The Forest of Change
by Freyja Elizabeth
Summary: Kakashi and Sakura leave Konahagakure to retrieve Naruto, who has entered the Forest of Change, where even the noblest of Shinobi's inhibitions are discarded, and their deepest desires are aroused. Will they lose themselves in attempt to find Naruto?
1. Missing Person

Kakashi walked leisurely down the crowded streets of Konohagakure, hands in his pockets, his shoulders slightly slouched forward. Passing the Ichiraku Ramen stand, he noticed that it was unusually quiet, and guessed that Naruto must be on a mission. Making his way to the Hokage's house, he passed a purple-clad konoichi with a long blonde pony tail ranting on loudly to an upset milky eyed ninja with shiny blue-black hair, who was being comforted by a brown haired young woman with twin buns.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he went and got himself killed, the bakka. He always messes things up! I'll bet he tried to handle things on his own with the leader of the clan, and started running his mouth off before Shikamaru and the others could save his sorry ass!" screeched the blonde, with her nose in the air, and her hands on her curvaceous hips.

"Ino!" Tenten cried, her arms around a hysterical Hinata. "Will you shut up already? I'm sure Naruto is perfectly fine! He's bold, but he's not stupid. And besides, Shikamaru wouldn't let him run off on his own." At this, Hinata's tears stopped pouring so violently out of her eyes, and slowed so that they were only leaking out of her eyes every five to ten seconds. Tenten gently rubbed her shoulder.

"Whatever," replied Ino, "you can believe whatever you want to. I'm going for a walk." Lost in her frustration, Ino turned and stormed off with her eyes closed, only to slam straight into Kakashi's toned chest.

"Oh!" she startled, jumping back in shock. "Kakashi-sensei! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there, I just-"

"-It's okay, Ino," Kakashi interrupted, "Just be more careful, okay?" His single exposed eye arched upward to show that he was smiling under the mask that covered everything under the top half of his nose.

"Uh, uh….Ummm…Yeah. Right. I should be going now," she fumbled, before running in the opposite direction. Tenten squeezed Hinata's shoulder with a laugh, as Hinata gave a weak, half-hearted smile. Kakashi approached the two girls and addressed Hinata, whose face was pink and stained with tears.

"Hinata," Kakashi said tenderly, "Don't worry about Naruto. He'll be fine."

"H-h-hai." She stuttered weakly, with a tiny nod. Kakashi smiled again, and left for Lady Tsunade's office.

He knocked on her door three times and was answered by a stern, "Come in." He opened the door and stepped inside the cluttered office, before closing the door behind him again and walking forward a few paces. Lady Tsunade was hunched over her desk with her glossy red fingernails crossed and placed in front of her face. Her black-haired assistant, Shizune, stood next to her side, while a pink-haired konoichi in red stood in front of her desk, looking at Kakashi with her sparkling green eyes.

"Kakashi," Tsunade spoke quickly, "I know you just got back from a mission last night, but this is important. Naruto left two weeks ago on a mission to take down a clan of rogue ninjas, along with Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. They completed the mission, but Naruto has gone missing. Shikamaru and Choji are still searching for him. Kiba came back to the village to tell us the details, but when he arrived, he had a pretty serious concussion, so I'm not sure how accurate the information is. I sent him to the Leaf Hospital to be healed. Assuming what Kiba said is correct, Shikamaru and Choji should be waiting somewhere around here," she concluded, pointing to a wooded area called the Forest of Change on a fire country map. "Got it?" She questioned sternly.

"Tsunade-sama," Sakura said uncomfortably, twirling her bubblegum pink hair in her fingers, "Are you sure the Forest of Change is really the place we're supposed to rendezvous with Shikamaru and Choji?"

"I'm positive, why?" Tsunade interrogated testily.

"Well, you've heard the legends, right? That the Forest of Change brings out the worst qualities in people? But…It's just a silly rumor, right?" Sakura questioned, her lower lip sticking out slightly into a pout as a child's does when they are unsure of something. Tsunade's brow wrinkled slightly, the blue diamond on her forehead crowded by stress marks. She sighed and leaned back to recline in her chair, her generous cleavage sliding off of the desk that was previously supporting it.

"What rumors?" the Hokage pondered.

"Well, Tsunade-sama," Shizune spoke suddenly, "There are rumors that the Forest of Change dulls a person's inhibitions, and turns even the noblest of Shinobi into standard less gluttons who can't control themselves and their inner desires, no matter how dormant they may have been lying in the past. I mean, it could just be a rumor, but I'd still ask the villagers outside the east rim of the forest, in the Village of Shadows. There's no harm in being too careful, right?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes at Shizune and Sakura's fearfulness. "Fine. Kakashi, Sakura, your objective hasn't changed. It would be a good idea to gather as much information as possible on possible reasons for Naruto's disappearance."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." Kakashi answered, nodding his head.

"Go quickly," Tsunade ordered. "I'll be sending Neji and Shino as soon as they return from their missions, in case you still haven't found him by the time they arrive."

Kakashi nodded.

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked, "What about Hinata? I saw her leaving the hospital earlier this morning with Tenten and Ino. Her byakugan would be a huge addition to the search party.

"Sakura, as much as I would like to send Hinata, the last time she was on a mission, she almost endangered the Leaf for Naruto's sake. She is not to accompany the two of you on this mission."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama…" Sakura said obediently, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Tsunade spoke once again in conclusion. "The two of you need to leave the village within thirty minutes. Naruto must be found."


	2. Tea and Rebellion

Hinata and Tenten were sitting on a plush section of emerald grass near the eastern gate of Konohagakure drinking warm tea. Tenten was enjoying a fruity cup of pomegranate tea, while Hinata went for the more traditional green tea with a bit of honey for flavoring. After a long while of silently looking at the still grass, Hinata looked up at Tenten, whose buns were coming slightly undone as the day went on.

"T-Tenten?" She stuttered, blushing. The brown haired girl looked up at Hinata with a sweet smile. Hinata opened her mouth as if about to say something, but closed it again. Finally, she said, "D-d-do you think N-Naruto-kun will be okay?" She asked, tears welling up in her eyes again, her bottom lip quivering uncontrollably.

"Hinata-chan," Tenten soothed, lowering her cup into her lap, "I'm sure Naruto will be absolutely fine. He's strong, and smart, and he won't be beaten easily by a couple of rogue ninjas. He's been on plenty more dangerous missions. Compared to that S-ranked criminal that he took on last week, this'll be nothing." She grinned as wide as she could, closed her eyes, and gave Hinata a big thumbs-up. After holding her thumb out for several seconds, she lowered it quickly and took a drink of her tea again, trying to act as though the action hadn't been committed. _Oh, no! _She thought, _Guy Sensei is rubbing off on me! What would Neji think if he saw me acting like our crazy intense sensei?_

"Y-you're right. I-I should just calm d-d-down." She told herself out loud, satisfying Tenten nonetheless, who thought she was being addressed. Hinata uncomfortably took a sip of her tea, and looked up to see Kakashi and Sakura leaving the village together.

"Well they look like they're in a hurry," Tenten noticed. "Maybe they're going to find Naruto-kun; right, Hinata?" Tenten furrowed her brow before drinking the last of her tea down, sending the cup completely upside-down to get every last drop.

That last comment sent Hinata's mind in a frenzy. Kakashi and Sakura were going to find Naruto, and she wasn't even notified? She had only learned that Naruto might be in danger early this morning, when she went to visit Kiba at the hospital. _I have to do something!_ She thought, _I can't just sit idly while Naruto might need my help!_

"T-Tenten," she muttered, fiercely discarding the tears in her eyes, and standing up abruptly. "T-thank you for the tea. I should g-go now." Tenten looked confused as she got to her feet.

"Yeah, um…No problem, Hinata. Do you want me to come with you?"

"N-no, that's okay. I'll be fine. Thank you." Hinata refused._ If she comes with me, she might find out my plan…I have to do this alone._

"Well, okay. Whatever you say, Hinata. See ya later!"

"Bye, Tenten." Hinata walked confidently away from Tenten and her fears.

As soon as she was out of Tenten's line of sight, she broke into a sprint, racing toward her house. Using her byakugan, she chose the quickest route to her home, using the least populated streets. Once inside, she threw essentials into a backpack messily, threw the backpack over her shoulders, and walked slowly-but not calmly-toward the missing person bulletin near the Hokage's house. _Ashiri Hyuzu, Kerushi Jinuce, Ero Sukasuri, no, no….no….THERE! Naruto Uzumaki!_

The flyer for Naruto's disappearance was near the bottom corner of the bulletin. The corners of the page were slightly bent from exposure to the elements, but remained undamaged and crisper than the older pages surrounding it. _Naruto Uzuamaki. Last seen near the Village of Shadows. Gold-blonde hair, medium-blue eyes, 5 feet, 11 inches. Probably wearing something orange._ The location remained in her mind, echoing her destination like a snake's tongue echoes to its curious prey. _Village of Shadows, Village of Shadows…shadows…shadows…._

That was where Naruto would most likely be, which meant that she needed to be there with him. Relieved of knowing that Naruto was still in the Land of Fire, she sprinted out of the village as fast as she could, heading east toward the Village of Shadows.

_Don't worry, Naruto-kun_, she thought, _I'm coming._


	3. A Beam of Light

After a tiring day of sprinting east under the relentless sun, Kakashi and Sakura finally came to the Village of Shadows at sundown, exhausted and sweaty. Their trip had been relatively quiet; they hadn't been caught in a confrontation, and could rush uninterrupted to the small town with full speed.

Walking around the town, the two visitors received nothing but dirty looks full of unspoken malice, and the negative chakra in the air was so obvious, a toddler without even the slightest knowledge of Shinobi or chakras would be made aware of the malevolent aura. Searching for somewhere to stay, Sakura spotted a bar, a small merchant's stand that sold staples for the locals, a curry stand, a dango stand, and several farm houses with small family businesses, but not an inn in sight.

A middle-aged man, taller than Kakashi, with dark brown hair that was balding at the crown and a matching goatee and curly mustache, both of which had random grey hairs mixed in, deposited himself in front of the pair, barring their way any further down the dirt road. His hazel eyes were full of rage, and looked as if they would start boiling in their sockets at any moment. He opened his mouth to show his yellowing crooked teeth.

"You're not from around here," he growled hatefully. "State your business." Sakura was about to speak up, but Kakashi decided to take the burden of being the man's outlet for fury.

"A few of our comrades had come somewhere near here earlier this week, and we're looking for them. One would be an especially loud knucklehead ninja with spiky blonde hair and a tracksuit in a blindingly ugly shade of orange." Kakashi smiled slightly under the mask to be polite, and the violent-looking man narrowed his eyes. "Have you seen him?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he snarled, "but you'd better take your pink-haired friend and get the hell out of here, if you know what's good for you. This town doesn't appreciate outsiders, and it would be very unfortunate if something were to happen to you." Cracking his knuckles one by one, he stood his ground.

Sakura looked uncomfortably up at Kakashi, who seemed unfazed.

"Really, we don't mean you guys any harm," he rebutted in a confident tone, not intimidated by the husky man. "We'll just find our friends and take them back home."

"I don't think you understand," the burly man said, raising his voice and coming a step closer to Kakashi and Sakura. "You be out of my sight in twenty seconds, or I swear, I'll-"

"Kurodo! What on earth do you think you're doing, scaring these people like that?" A short, round elderly woman with white hair tied into a loose bun behind her head waddled up to the dark-haired behemoth. "I cannot _believe_ the way you are treating these people! They are new to the village, therefore they are guests in our home. Come here!" she yelled at the man named Kurodo. He obeyed, and leaned down so that he could be eye-level with the squat woman, as she moved toward his ear. Whispering, she continued.

"How often is it that we have guests, hmmm? You will treat _my visitors_ as you would treat yourself, because you and I both know that you place yourself above everyone else." She pulled her face away from his, and took his tanned face in her wrinkly hands. She gently caressed his cheeks with her folded fingers, and held his face, looking at his evil eyes in her own calm ones. Then, pulling her hands away, she slapped him hard across the cheek, sending his whole face flying to the left in shame, as Sakura and Kakashi watched in awe.

"Stand up." she ordered shrilly. Kurodo stood up again and filled his whole frame, towering above the onlookers and especially the old woman. "Now you go home and make a some tea for our young callers, and a place for them to sleep." The tall man bowed low, folding his entire being in half.

"Hai, Orakuru-sama." Standing up once again, he departed in the direction that he came from, where the Leaf Shinobi were prevented from going.

"My sincerest apologies," the white-haired woman said, coming closer to the couple. "I'm not normally like that, but sometimes it's necessary to remind that man of the things called manners, and I seem to be the only one who can do that. Dear little Kurodo doesn't like foreigners, and has quite the hard time controlling his temper. I can see from your headbands that you're from Konohagakure, no doubt. I didn't quite catch your purpose for being in such a cursed place as the Village of Shadows…We don't have many visitors for a good reason."

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but the woman held up a spindly finger.

"Don't speak, child, it's perfectly fine, whatever your reason. Both of you have drained a great deal of your chakra on the way over here; I can tell. We'll go back to my house, and talk things over a nice hot cup of tea. You can spend the night there if you want. Kurodo will lend you his bed. I'd offer you mine, but in my old age, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to get up in the morning if I did." she gave a time-worn but hearty laugh. "And that wouldn't help you out very much, now would it? Come now, young ones, save your voices for when we're back at my house. You've had a long day."

With that, the minute beam of light in the hostile Village of Shadows led the two Shinobi back to her house, with their shocked silence saying more than any words could've possibly attempted to voice.

**Author's Note: Ooooh, fun! We're just now getting to the good stuff! Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it. The only thing that I can think of that would make my day would be reviews from you! Tell me what you think! Thanks a ton, guys!**

**-Freyja**


	4. Sin

The trio arrived at the elder's warm home just as the sun dipped below the horizon. The white-haired woman led Kakashi and Sakura through her doorway. Stepping through, the visitors were drowned in a heavy smog of incense that filled their lungs. They followed the hospitable woman to her living room, where magenta cushions were set out around a tea table, upon which a handwritten note was lying next to an old porcelain tea set. The teapot, cups, and other accessories that belonged to the collection had the image of a Buddha drinking tea with a young girl painted onto the sides in an emerald green color.

"Make yourselves at home," the woman said, pouring them some tea that had been prepared a few minutes before they had arrived. "It's been a long time since I've had guests in my home, and it's nice to have company. My name is Orakuru. That man you saw earlier is Kurodo. He won't be joining us tonight; it seems he has gone to a friend's house for the night," she waved the scrawled note casually in front of her face, showing the origin of the information. "What are your names?"

Kakashi and Sakura took their seats on the plush cushions. Sakura especially appreciated them, as she'd been running all day at top speed without rest, out of concern for Naruto. She felt as though she could just sink into the pillow and melt away.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, and this is-"

"My name is Sakura Haruno. It's a pleasure to meet you, Orakuru-sama." Sakura smiled, as Kakashi looked at her, amused at her interruption.

"Hello, Sakura-san, Kakashi-san," Orakuru said, bowing her head slightly as she sat down. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry again for any hard feelings that Kurodo might've created. He was orphaned as a child, and has never really been quite trusting of strangers since. It happened when he was only six years old, and I took him into my care. He's never been able to control his wrath, though, no matter how much I try to train him out of it. It's something he'll have to live with for the rest of his life. What brings you to the Village of Shadows? Not very many people come here because of the nearby Forest of Change."

Sakura sipped her tea, permitting Kakashi to speak this time.

"We're looking for a few of our friends. They were supposed to have returned to our village about a week ago, and they still haven't returned. One of them is a rather loud, boastful ninja with spiky blonde hair, and these scars that look like whiskers. He always rants on about how he's going to be the Hokage someday in the future, and make everyone acknowledge him. Oh, and he's probably wearing some shade of orange," Kakashi explained.

"Pride," The woman whispered, almost inaudible.

"What?" Sakura asked, unsure of what Orakuru had whispered. "Have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't. I'm terribly sorry. Perhaps I can help you look for him in the morning, though. You had said that you were looking for multiple friends; were there any more?" The generous lady asked with a grandmotherly smile.

"Yeah," Sakura continued. "There's also a lazy Shinobi who's always complaining about how 'troublesome' things are, and he has black hair pulled back into a spiky ponytail. Have you seen anyone like him?" she asked, hopes rising. _Shikamaru should be easier to find. It doesn't surprise me that she hasn't seen Naruto. I mean, if Shikamaru couldn't find him still, I couldn't expect this old lady to have seen him_, she thought to herself.

"Sloth…interesting," came another whisper on the verge of silence. "Anyone else?" The lady's voice raised a bit, before she took a small sip of the tea Kurodo had prepared.

"Ummm, yeah. There's this…_thicker set_…boy named Choji. He flips out when people call him fat, and swears up and down that he's just big-boned, but he eats too much for that to be the case. He's also got these little swirlies on his cheeks," Sakura described, thinking about the adorable spirals on Choji's rounded face. "They're actually pretty cute, when I think about it," she trailed off.

"Gluttony." Orakuru whispered to herself. "You're missing three friends currently, or are there any more?" She asked.

"Ummm, no; that's it," Sakura denied. "We had another friend who had gone with the others originally, but he returned to the village, so he's hardly missing."

"There was another?" interrogated Orakuru. "What's his personality like?"

"His personality?" Sakura pondered, confused at the seemingly unrelated question. "Well, I guess he's pretty self-oriented with his goals…" Sakura trailed off, trying to think of something else to pain Kiba in a more positive light. Eventually coming up empty-handed, she gave up and sipped her tea to fill the silence and relieve herself of some of the awkwardness. Kakashi gave Sakura a break and began to speak for her.

"Well it sounds like you haven't seen any of our companions," he started, "We were supposed to rendezvous with two of them near here to strategize and look for Naruto, the first one Sakura told you about. I think they're in the forest. There've been quite a few nasty rumors going around that the forest is haunted, more or less. Do you know anything about it?" _The rumors that Shizune told us about earlier sound like mere superstitions, but it's true that we should gain as much information as possible on the matter_, he thought.

The old woman took in a deep breath, then sighed. Seeing that Kakashi and Sakura's tea cups were now empty, she refilled them, then looked back down into her own cup with her experienced eyes.

"Yes, I know much about the Forest of Change," Orakuru said heavily. "What do you know about the seven deadly sins?"

"Only that they exist," said an intrigued Kakashi, who ran his gloved fingers through his unkempt silver hair. Sakura, who was once again confused out of her mind, sipped her newly refilled tea cup. "I'm not quite sure what exactly they are."

Orakuru looked up to meet Kakashi's single exposed eye. "The seven sins are sloth, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, greed, and pride. Almost everyone has a sin embedded in the deepest part of their heart that they need to satisfy more than anything. Sometimes the person realizes they have it, sometimes they don't. It's something everyone needs to overcome, but not very many can overcome their "addiction," so to speak. The Forest of Change is a place that awakens the sin in a person's heart, and activates it to the maximum. In the forest, a person's dark side arises and eventually takes over until the need to sin has been completely satisfied. It's like paying an entrance fee, but for exiting. Unless a person commits a certain amount of sin to quench their individual needs, they can't return to their normal state, and they remain in the forest. If your acquaintances are in the forest, the only way they can leave is if they overcome their misdeeds."

"What?" Sakura gasped, nearly choking on her tea. "How is that possible? I just don't get it; it's just a forest!"

"Long ago, an selfish feudal lord lived in a beautiful home in the center of the forest. Poverty-ridden people from the nearby Village of Shadows came to him seeking food and shelter, but the lord turned them all away, even though he had enough wealth to spare for the whole village. One day, the lord got tired of receiving beggars on his doorstep and decided that he would lay a curse on the forest that surrounded his castle. With the curse, whoever entered the forest would be corrupted with evil."

Kakashi blinked, as if the whole story was just a fairytale. "Is there any way to lift the curse?" _This sounds like a bit of a stretch, but the woman seems reliable, if only because of her age. There has to be a way to overpower the curse, surely_, Kakashi thought.

Orakuru looked straight into Kakashi's soul when she looked at his eye. "The only way the curse can be broken is if all seven sins were fulfilled within a week of each other. You 'd need seven people, each with a separate sin. Then, they'd all have to overcome their sins, almost at the same time. After that, there's a scroll in the feudal lord's castle that should release the curse when it is torn apart. It seems as though your friends meet the requirements, assuming my guesses were correct. The first one you told me about, Naruto, his heart most likely contains pride. Then the lazy one has sloth, the one who constantly eats has gluttony, and the self-oriented one is probably greed. That leaves wrath, envy, lust, and greed."

Sakura was beginning to understand a bit, but still had some questions. _What am I?_ she thought, thinking of the remaining sins. _Wrath, envy, lust, or greed…_ "Can you tell which sin I have?" Sakura asked Orakuru, hoping that hers wasn't a hard one to overcome.

"Give me your hand, child." Orakuru instructed, holding her hand out across the tea table. Sakura extended her arm, and placed her small hand in Orakuru's, as the older woman closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she said, "You have greed. That's another individual. So far, it looks like we might be able to find your friends." She then turned to Kakashi, whose face was still casual, despite the negative atmosphere. "Lend me your hand, if you would, young one; unless you already know what you have."

Kakashi thought back to his Icha Icha Paradise books, and knew what she was going to say when their hands touched. Sure enough, as soon as she closed her eyes, that one word escaped her lips, and engraved itself in Kakashi's mind.

"Lust."


	5. Candles and Cards

Sakura looked up at Kakashi's masked face which was partially covered by his unkempt silver hair. _Kakashi-sensei's sin is lust?_ she thought, looking over the experienced ninja's toned body. Kakashi's jet-black eye sparkled tantalizingly in the candlelight, as Sakura started to imagine what Kakashi was like under the covers. She said nothing as she fantasized about her sensei, drinking her tea to once again excuse herself from talking.

"Tell me, young man," Orakuru started with a warm smile. "I don't mean to pry, but are the two of you lovers?" Sakura's face was shocked, and the elderly woman looked at the couple admiringly.

"No," Kakashi denied, inadvertently looking at Sakura, whose cheeks were turning pink. Sakura wasn't actually blushing because of the woman's question, but more at the thought of her and Kakashi being lovers. As soon as the words escaped Orakuru's mouth, Sakura pictured the two of them kissing passionately. Orakuru's eyebrows raised.

"Surely, you must have a lover, though?" she questioned, looking puzzled toward the calm man.

"I don't, actually. I never have" Kakashi said once again,

"My, my, my…" Orakuru responded, scratching her age-sagged chin. "You are a truly remarkable ninja, indeed. To be able to distance yourself that far from your inner desires…Amazing." Sakura's eyes drooped slightly as she covered her mouth to yawn. Running all day had certainly taken a toll on her, and she had to force herself to stay awake.

"Ahhh, my dear children; I forgot that you must be exhausted after traveling all day." Orakuru stood up, and the two shinobi followed suit.

"There's a room in the back that you can use for the night. There is only one bed, however, it is big enough to satisfy a giant, as normally it is used by Kurodo; and you've both seen how big he is," she said, leading the two to their room. "I'll leave the two of you to get your rest. If you need anything, I'm right down the hall. I'll see you in the morning."

With that, the elderly woman left, closing the door behind her. The room was fairly spacious. It had a large bed with newly placed maroon sheets over top of it, creases still visible in the fabric from where it had been previously folded. In one corner of the room was a foldable paper changing section, as seen in most houses. In another corner was a desk with ink and paper. The whole room was illuminated by candles, so the lighting was dim, but warm and inviting.

"Ugh, finally!" Sakura said, stretching her arms above her head, relieved of having a comfy place to sleep. "I'm exhausted!"

Kakashi chuckled heartily at the pink-haired kunoichi's child-like actions.

"I brought a spare change of clothes because I assumed we'd be spending at least one night here," she said, rummaging through her bag. "I'll just change behind this panel, if you don't mind."

"Naturally," Kakashi said, pulling out his spare clothes as well and setting them on the bed. Sitting down, he pulled out his Icha Icha Paradise book and pretended to read.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura spoke up from behind the paper barrier, "How many times are you gonna read that book? Every time I see you, you're always reading the same Icha Icha Paradise book. Doesn't it get old?"

Kakashi turned the page he was on to make it seem like he was actually reading and not just thinking. "Not really," he said casually, "Why, does it bother you?" He looked up toward the panel to see his former student's curvaceous silhouette taking off her shirt in a graceful manner. He watched it slip to the ground as her shadow bent over to pick up the shirt she had packed for the trip. As guilty as he felt, he couldn't look away. _Kakashi, snap out of it!_ he told himself. _You're fourteen years older than her, this is wrong! She's way too young for you!_

"No, it doesn't bother me," Sakura answered, her voice like silk to Kakashi. "I just thought you might get bored with it after a while. You could read other things, you know. Most hentai has the same kind of storyline, I'd imagine…kind of like romance books; they're all the same, once you get down to it."

Kakashi blushed behind his navy blue mask, as the shadow on the paper screen pulled on a pair of loose-fitting pants.

"Hentai?" Kakashi asked mock-defensively, sounding like a child caught going through his parents things.

Sakura came out from behind the divider laughing, as she tied the drawstring on the front of her pink pajama pants into a bow. "You know what hentai is, sensei." she teased.

Kakashi's visible eyebrow crinkled up. "Sure," he admitted. "Whatever you say." he grabbed his spare clothes and walked leisurely behind the panel to change.

Pulling off his jonin vest and shirt, he dropped them on the floor in a heap and picked up his spare sleeveless t-shirt that he had packed, and pulled it over his head.

_Kakashi sensei's actually pretty attractive,_ Sakura thought to herself as she folded her daytime clothes and placed them in her bag. She wanted his attention all to herself, with none to spare for anyone else. Watching his muscular body shift to undress and dress again, she fantasized once more about her former teacher. He stepped out from behind the obstruction and stood by the foot of the bed.

"I'll sleep on the floor," he said, not wanting Sakura to get freaked out by the discovery of his inner desires.

"Why?" Sakura questioned innocently, sitting up a bit. "I don't care what your 'sin' is, I can't have you sleeping on the floor. You'll get sick." She said the word "sin" as though it were some made-up fairytale for children, worthy of mocking.

"Sakura, it'd be wrong for me to sleep in the same bed as you," he shot back more sternly than he intended. "What would your mother say if she found out?" he teased, trying to lighten up the mood a bit.

Sakura got up and stood in front of Kakashi, looking up into his onyx eye.

"My mother isn't here." she said seductively. Kakashi's whole body felt warm, as though he were on fire. "And besides," her tone back to its normal, immaculate self, "It's not like we're gonna do anything."

"No, Sakura." he refused. "I don't think-"

"I trust you." she interrupted. "So stop being stupid, and go to sleep." She pushed on his chest jokingly, and turned to lay on her side of the bed.

_That was light,_ Kakashi thought at the touch of her hand. _I guess it doesn't matter…She obviously doesn't have a problem with it._ Kakashi gave up on resisting and stretched out on the bed.

"Fine," he surrendered.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura said after a little while, turning on her side to look at the ninja's masked face.

"Mmm?" he replied.

"Do you believe the stories about the forest?" she asked, wriggling to pull some of the covers over her shoulder.

"I don't know," he answered, looking at the ceiling, "But we can't be too careful. This woman seems to know what she's talking about, and it would be foolish to dismiss her advice."

"Yeah…" Sakura sighed, searching Kakashi's upturned face. "Hey…Kakashi-sensei?" she said again, once more trying to get his attention.

"Yeah?" he answered, still looking at the ceiling.

"Do you think we'll find the others?" she inquired, thinking about Naruto, who she grew up with.

"I can't say for sure," Kakashi started, "But I'll bet they're in the forest. We'll go there tomorrow and try to find them. It's not like they have many places to disappear to."

"Right…"Sakura agreed, mesmerized by the way Kakashi's features were lit up in the flickering amber candlelight.

"Ummm…Kakashi-sensei?" she asked yet again, her eyes moving from his face to his firm chest.

Kakashi chuckled. "Yes, Sakura?" He rolled his head to the side to look at her face.

"Well…Umm," she fumbled on her words, blushing a little. "Is it true? You really haven't ever had a girlfriend?"

Kakashi rolled over on his side, his whole person turned towards Sakura now. He looked deep into her glistening eyes, and thought about why she would care if he had had a girlfriend or not.

"Uh, yeah. It's true," he admitted, looking at the girl's pink hair, which was spilling all around her face.

Sakura's face seemed sad, as though she felt bad for Kakashi. "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei. If it's not too personal, have you ever loved anyone?" she asked, trying not to pry, but still extremely curious.

"Well," he explained, "Not really. I mean, I was always trying to kill my feelings to become an emotionless shinobi." He chuckled a little half-heartedly. Sakura was silent for a while, mulling things over in her head.

"Kakashi-sensei?" she repeated for the fourth time, as Kakashi laughed again at her common remark.

"Yes, Sakura?" he said again, smiling under the mask.

"Do you still have your v-card?" she asked, a bit worried that he would be offended at the question. _Don't ask such stupid questions, Sakura!_ she thought to herself._ Of course he doesn't! He's an adult! Ino doesn't have hers anymore, and she's my age!_

Kakashi's face wore an expression of pure confusion.

"My what?" he asked. _"V-card"? What on Earth is a v-card?_ he thought, totally confused about the meaning of this new phrase he'd never heard before.

"You know," she dodged, trying not to say the exact definition, lest it affront her teacher, "like…your _V-card_?"

"Sakura," he laughed. "I have no idea what you're talking about. What's a v-card?"

"You don't know?" she asked, rather surprised. _He reads hentai all the time! How can he not know what a v-card is?_ she thought.

"No, I don't, honestly."

"Like…Are you a virgin?" she restated, mentally crossing her fingers that Kakashi wouldn't get mad at her for asking the question.

"Oh, is _that_ what that is? V-card means virginity?" he asked with a laugh. Sakura nodded. "Wow, I must be getting pretty old, if I'm behind on all the new phrases already!"

Sakura raised her eyebrows, looking at the laughing man expectedly. "Well?" she asked, "Do you?"

"Do I what, now?" he asked, trying to remember the first question. The talk about the meaning of "v-card" had made him forget the original inquiry.

"Do you still have your v-card?" she repeated, her curiosity getting the better of her as her manners were pushed aside.

"Oh," Kakashi said a little awkwardly. "Uhhh, yeah. I do." _Great._ he thought, a little embarrassed inside. _That's attractive for an adult my age. I'm like some cliché comedy movie or something about some nerd who's never hooked up…Hmmm…I wonder…Is Sakura a virgin?_

"Bet you think I'm a nerd," he said jokingly.

"No, I don't." Sakura objected. "I think it's sweet that you're still a virgin."

"Well thanks, I suppose," Kakashi said, at a loss for words. "Why do you ask, anyway?"

"Oh, I…Uhhh," she sputtered. "Well, I was just thinking…Since…well, your sin is lust, after all." Kakashi looked at her questioningly. "Not…Not like that should mean anything in particular, I mean…I just…I…I'm sorry for asking, I didn't mean to offend you." she apologized.

"Not at all, Sakura." he assured. "I'm not offended."

"Okay, that's good." Sakura was relieved to find that she hadn't hurt her friendship with Kakashi. "I'm a virgin, too." she added, blushing a little.

"That's good." he said. "You really should get some sleep, though. You've been running all day."

"You have too," she retorted. "I wasn't the only one running, you know."

Kakashi laughed quietly. "I know," he said. "We should both go to sleep. Better?"

"Yes." she laughed. "Much better."

"Okay, good." he said. "Get some sleep." he laughed again.

Sakura giggled. "Okay, okay. I will." she rolled over and looked at the ceiling, moaning from exhaustion. "Goodnight, Kakashi," she mumbled tiredly.

Kakashi gazed at her slender features, and decided that this felt right, no matter what anyone else thought. So what if he was older than her? This was right.

"Goodnight, Sakura."


	6. Curves and Confusion

Just about the same time as Kakashi finally went to sleep, Hinata sprinted headlong into the forest, completely unaware of its powers.

_I'm coming, Naruto-kun!_ she thought to herself. _Naruto once said that the place where people think of you is the place you call home; so if I just keep thinking of him, then I'll find him for sure!_

Her blue-black hair shone in the moonlight that pierced through the canopy of the leafy trees. Noises emanated from all over the forest; sounds of nocturnal animals looking for food, sounds of unsuspecting animals becoming prey, sounds of rustling leaves, and even the native insects were clicking and buzzing incessantly. After sprinting at full speed for about an hour and a half, she came to a castle so excessively expansive, to describe it in words would only detract from the splendor of its massive size. Slowing to a jog and looking over the castle, she heard a faint buzzing and constant crunching coming from inside the door, along with the excessively loud voice of Hinata's favorite number one unpredictable knucklehead ninja. _Naruto-kun!_

She made a beeline for the wooden door and threw it open as fast as she could, nearly giving herself splinters from the sudden friction. Rushing through the door, she fell upon a mammoth banquet hall, fully decked out with tons of mouth-watering provisions on the elongated table. There must've been twenty chairs on either end of the table, each with deep red cushions.

At one end of the table was a heavy-set ninja in red, with spiky ginger hair stuffing his swirly cheeks with as much food as was humanly possible, not even taking the time to taste the food he was constantly forcing down his gullet. He briefly looked up at Hinata when she suddenly entered, but other than a short look and grunt aimed at the kunoichi, the ninja appeared oblivious to everything but his food.

Sprawled out on a maroon chaise lounge near a stairway was a sun kissed ninja with spiky black hair pulled back into a ponytail that was beginning to fall out. He wore simple black pants and a fishnet undershirt. The black long-sleeved turtleneck he normally wore was in a heap on the floor, along with his kunai pouch and other belongings. Cracking one eye open to show off a brilliant chocolate iris, he moved a single finger, beckoning Hinata to approach the couch.

"Hey, Hinata." he sighed, letting his tanned arm go limp and rest once more on his exposed chest. "You don't need to get all worked up; Naruto's just upstairs. He'll come down after he lets off some steam. It's troublesome, but he's pretty pissed off right now. Why don't you get yourself something to drink? There are drinks right over there, if you want."

She looked awkwardly at the reclining shinobi and ran toward the stair banister.

"S-S-Shikamaru-kun," she stuttered, "W-what's going on?"

Sighing, Shikamaru sat upright and leaned into the corner of the chaise lounge. "The whole story's a pain to tell," he groaned, "so I'll just give you the shortened version. Really, what happened is we were following the leader of a rogue clan of ninjas, and they ran into this forest. After we defeated him, it was pretty late and we needed to set up camp, so we stopped in this troublesome castle. We would've come back, but there's some kind of a barrier around the castle, and we can't leave."

Hinata bit her lower lip and fumbled her fingers around.

"B-b-but…But that's impossible! W-we have to b-be able to leave!"

"Nope," Shikamaru denied. "See for yourself. It's impossible to walk out that door."

Hinata ran worriedly toward the door. Just as she was about to cross through the doorway, an invisible blockade prevented her from moving any farther. It was like the whole castle had been placed inside a giant bubble that was impenetrable from the inside.

"B-b-but…" Hinata trailed off, completely lost in frustration as she stood frozen at the doorway.

"Don't freak out," Shikamaru said, trying to calm down the hysterical girl. "I think I know how we're gonna get out of here." Hinata's eyes widened at the lazy ninja's enlightening words. "I found a really old scroll on the top floor. It'll be a pain to explain it all, but I guess it couldn't hurt. First, though, what happened to Kiba and Akamaru? They didn't come in the castle with the rest of us."

"K-K-Kiba-kun is at the village with Akamaru. He hurt his head, but he should be okay soon."

"That's both good and bad," Shikamaru said, his semi-nasally voice resounding through the expansive room, "It's great that the two are well, but we could've gotten out of this troublesome place sooner if he'd been here. Oh well. I'm guessing you want me to tell you about how we're supposed to do that, right?" Hinata nodded and sat in a chair near the lounging ninja's couch.

"Y-y-yes p-please, Shikamaru-kun," she pleaded.

"Alright," the strategist sighed, "Well, after we figured out that we were barricaded in this castle, I did some exploring around the place. I found this scroll up on the top floor along with these weird papers, which are sitting in my kunai pouch right now. The scroll said something about seven sins. All I gathered out of the scroll is that we need all seven to get out of this place. The papers are kind of like chakra nature papers, but with sins instead. As soon as you touch one, a character shows up with the "sin" you have. See why I said it's like the chakra nature papers?"

"H-hai," Hinata agreed, "But….Shikamaru-kun, how are we supposed to get out of this place?" she unconsciously stuck her bottom lip out into a slight pout.

"I was getting to that," he continued, "Like I said, we need all seven to get out of here. Grab one of those papers in my kunai pouch so we can see what you have."

Hinata walked shyly to Shikamaru's pile of items and reached her pale hand into the bag of ninja tools. She picked up one piece of the thin paper, and stared in awe as the Japanese characters for "envy" sunk into the yellowed square of parchment.

"What'd you get?" the lazy strategist questioned.

"I-it says 'envy,'" the milky eyed kunoichi answered self-consciously.

"That's good," Shikamaru said, folding his arms across his toned chest. "So far, we have five out of the seven. You've got envy, and Choji's got gluttony, if you couldn't tell. Naruto has pride, I've got sloth, and this other girl, who was here before us, has lust. That means we just need-"

"Wrath and greed," came a breathy voice from the top of the staircase next to Shikamaru's couch. "You know, Shika-sama, 'girl' implies juvenileness and naïveté. Would you really consider me to be such an immature thing?"

She slinked down the stairs, her generous figure swaying from side to side with every step. She donned a skin-tight navy blue tee with red swirls on the shoulders, just like the long-sleeved jonin turtlenecks. She also wore khaki shorts that left little to the imagination, with the inch-long length that left her ivory legs fully exposed except for the hidden leaf headband tied around her upper thigh. The outfit would've been completely innocent on anyone else, but this woman's curves filled it in a way that made her look extremely erotic.

Hinata could do nothing but stare nervously as the auburn haired diva came to the bottom of the stairs, then hoisted herself up onto the banister, letting one of her legs fall next to the pony tailed ninja, while the other one supported itself on the rail. She leaned onto the thin banister, slightly letting out a suggestive moan as she arched her back and trailed her fingers up her sides. Once her slender fingers had trailed all the way up to the peak of their reach, the mystery woman slid down the column at the end of the stair rail and glided over to the maroon chaise lounge.

"Shika-sama…" she whispered, positioning herself so she was straddled over his lap, back still arched. Running her fair hands up and down his partially exposed chest, she leaned in closer. "Won't you tell her the shortened version? I've heard this story before, and it's not as exciting the second time."

He remained unfazed by her delicate touches and close proximity. "No," he sighed, "It's a pain, but she needs to know all the details."

"Can't you tell her when Wrath and Greed get here? It'll save you the trouble." she pleaded, biting her bottom lip.

"I suppose," he gave in. "Hinata, there are several rooms upstairs. No one lives here, but for some reason, the house is well-stocked and nicely taken care of. Take a look around. If you run into Naruto, try to calm him down, would you?"

"H-hai, Shikamaru-kun." Hinata was confused, but she felt awkward with the stranger in the room, so she decided to take a look around.

"Hey, kid," the woman called as the dark haired kunoichi started up the stairs. Hinata turned, twiddling her thumbs.

"Y-y-yes?" Hinata was completely lost as to why the strange female had addressed her so suddenly.

"What's your name?" she asked, removing herself from Shikamaru's lap.

"Hinata Hyuga." she answered bashfully.

The mystery woman gave a smile to the side. "Hinata," she repeated. "My name's Ashiri Hyuzu. Let me show you around a bit."

"Hai." Hinata agreed.

_That name sounds so familiar…_Hinata thought to herself,_ Where do I know that name? And why is she talking to me? I doubt we could be friends, she's more of an exhibitionist than Ino! We're nothing alike!_

Ashiri wrapped her arm around Hinata's tense shoulder and led her up the stairs, her hips bumping into the bashful girl's waist with each stride.

_Great,_ Hinata thought to herself, _I guess I'm stuck with her._

_AN: Yay! Finally another chapter! I know having TWO lusts might be a bit confusing, but a perfect number of each sin fitting in PERFECTLY with the characters in this just didn't make sense to me...Coincidences like that are too cliche and WAY overused...And don't worry, I've got big plans for her. (Muahahaha!) Sorry it took so long to update! Let me know what you think; you know where the button is! Thanks for reading and reviewing, and I send my love to all my dedicated fans who've been with me since the beginning!_


	7. Orange

Once upstairs, the lusty Ashiri showed Hinata around the mansion, hips swaying all the way. They went into several rooms, most of which were fancy suites with a bedroom-bathroom-lounge combo, decked out with extravagant furniture and paintings.

"You know, it gets pretty hot in here," Ashiri stated, taking note of Hinata's purple sweatshirt. "It's not like you can't take that off; I mean, you can put it in a room or something. We'll probably be here for a while."

Hinata looked down, blushing at the fact that all she had on underneath was a fishnet shirt, which hardly gave her any coverage. "Umm…I'll be okay," she answered shyly.

"Alright, well it's up to you," Ashiri replied. "So you're the new envy, huh?" she asked, more to bring up the topic than to receive an answer. This was probably a good thing, because Hinata wasn't sure how to feel about the subject, and was too busy trying not to turn bright scarlet to answer anyway. "That's cool," her silk voice contemplated, "I don't know if I could handle it though…All the internal conflict would be too much for me." Hinata nodded slightly.

_Hmm_…thought the mysterious newcomer, _She's not really one for talking, but it'll get awkward if she stays silent like this._

"Well, I don't actually notice my sin most of the time…My friends always joke that I'm an 'accidental exhibitionist,' 'cause I guess I'm just outwardly sexual or something; but like I said, I don't even do it on purpose most of the time…Whatever 'it' is." Still no response from Hinata. "You know, the way things are set up around here, we'll be out pretty soon. We just need to bring out your sin a little bit more, so your character will turn red."

Finally, a reaction from the silent heiress. "W-what do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"It'd be easier to show you," Ashiri answered, leading Hinata past a corner that led to another flight of stairs.

"Basically, though," Ashiri continued, glad to have found a subject of interest, "We all need to act on our sin more often while in this place. There's this piece of parchment up these stairs with all of the current sins written on it. That would be lust, envy, greed, wrath, sloth, gluttony, and pride; in case you didn't know." she counted to seven on her fingers, making sure not to leave any out of her list.

Blue-black hair moved slightly with a nod of the head.

"When all seven come together, a sort of timer goes off for two weeks; and if you haven't gotten your fill of sin by then, you're stuck in this castle forever."

Hinata cringed, thinking about being stuck in the castle for eternity. _Maybe it wouldn't be so bad_, she thought,_ Naruto-kun would be here_…_But this…succubus…is here too. Would Naruto even talk to me?_

"But don't worry. We need the other two before anything really needs to happen. As I said earlier, that'd be Wrath and Greed," Ashiri consoled, sensing Hinata's tense nerves. "So right now, we're basically waiting for the other two to get here. The castle has some sort of summoning spell thing, so we've got food and other provisions to keep us going."

_So maybe this isn't so bad_, Hinata told herself, trying to calm her nerves.

After rounding another corner, Hinata froze in her tracks as her heart beat so fast she swore it was going to jump out of her chest.

Orange.

That was all she needed to see, and she was blind to everything else.

Naruto Uzumaki turned around slowly, in shock at the newcomer.

"Hinata?" he fumbled, wondering why in the world Hinata was in such a place. _He_ was here because he had to be, but as far as he knew, Hinata had nothing to do with the treacherous forest, let alone the annoying mansion and its stupid curse.

_Hinata's Envy or Greed,_ Naruto thought, lost at the writing on the parchment behind him. Just a little while ago, he had been staring at the parchment, thinking. He wanted out of the stupid house. It was constricting his freedom, and he didn't like that. The yellow-blonde ninja had gone downstairs to tell the others about the newly appeared characters, but Choji was too busy stuffing his face to listen, and Shikamaru was asleep, with Ashiri sprawled out on top of him. "He'll wake up if I move," was her excuse not to follow Naruto upstairs to the parchment. Defeated, he went back upstairs to watch the parchment for newly appearing symbols.

"Hinata, when did you get here?" Naruto asked, playing with his spiky blonde hair.

"J-just now," Hinata answered.

"Is there someone with you?" he asked, stepping closer.

"N-no, Naruto-kun…I-"

"Are you sure?" Naruto put his hands firmly on her shoulders, desperate for a different answer.

"H-hai." she answered weakly, turning a violent shade of red at Naruto's sudden touch.

"You're _positive_?" he practically shouted.

"Naruto, there was no one with her." Ashiri interrupted, seeing how uncomfortable the purple-clad kunoichi was.

"_Ugh_, you've got to be _kidding_!" he lashed out, walking back to the parchment. "Ashiri, are you sure this stupid paper's _accurate_?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," she said, raising her eyebrow slightly. "Why?"

Naruto pointed at the framed parchment, which had several symbols on it. There was lust, sloth, gluttony, envy, pride, and greed; all in black ink.

"According to this paper, there should be one more person here. There's five of us here, but _this_ is saying that there's six. What's going on?"

"Well," Ashiri answered calmly, "She's the new Envy. That means there must be a Greed hanging around here somewhere; because that thing doesn't lie."

Hinata was starting to understand the conversations a little more now. _So after we find this Greed person, we've got one more person to go until we can get out of here, and head back to Konohagakure..._Hinata wrapped her brain around the situation, trying to think of something she could do to help.

"N-Na-Naruto-kun…" Hinata didn't want to call attention to herself, but decided to suffer through it in order to offer her help in the situation.

"Yeah?" he answered, rather depressed that she hadn't walked in with the new Greed.

"Umm…Well, I c-can help you look for the other p-person, I-if you want…" She twiddled her thumbs slightly, turning her feet in towards each other.

"Really?" Naruto beamed, his sky-blue eyes lighting up with overflowing joy and excitement. Hinata nodded eagerly in response, a bright smile on her face. "Wow, thanks, Hinata!"

"So," Ashiri said, jumping back into the conversation a bit awkwardly, "Let's split up. You and Hinata can look together for the new Greed, and I'll go by myself."

"W-why don't you go with Shikamaru-kun?" Hinata asked bashfully, once again a pomegranate color at the fact that she was now teamed up with Naruto.

"I will if he feels up to it," she laughed heartily, "but I think we all know what he'll say."

As the group thought about the possible responses of the indolent shinobi, everyone looked at each other, laughing happily. It was outrageously hilarious, because they _did_ know exactly what he'd say.

_AN: Hello everyone! Just wanted to say thanks again for reading and reviewing! :D Just thought I'd share something kindof hilarious with you! So in my English class, my teacher has us write sentences for vocab words...You know how it goes...I always think writing short, modern-themed sentences like "I went to the store" is boring, and I always have; so to keep myself sane, I write mine about Naruto characters! Naturally, though, my English teacher has no idea about Naruto or any of their characters, so she just thinks I'm obssessed with ninjas. When she told us that we all had to write short stories, I almost jumped out of my seat at the oppurtunity to show off my writing skills on something not limited...So she first assigned us to write down 20 characteristics for an OC. I showed her mine, and she looked at me kindof like you'd look at a little kid who's got some weird attraction to dinosaurs, thinking they're gonna rant on about dino's to you...And she says, in the same pity-tone people use to talk to children, "Is your story about ninjas?" Hahahaha! So I thought about all of my vocab sentences that she apparentally read, and realized why she was asking. "Yes," I replied, laughing about my fangirliness...And then I realized something possibly more hilarious: My yearbook photo was taken with me wearing my Konoha headband! (It was supposed to be a noggin-punch to conformists who get all serious about pictures...) When the school updates their attendance to show my current picture, she'll be like, "What is that thing on your forehead?" HAHA! It's gonna be great...I'll let you know how it goes; I'm sure her reaction will be priceless! Love and hugs to everyone who stays faithful to my story!  
><em>_-Freyja_


	8. Rendezvous

With a sigh, Konohagakure's easy-going genius gave his predetermined answer, much to the delight of his companions.

"It's troublesome, but if everyone else is going, I guess I could tag along."

This caused an uproar of laughter from the group, followed by empty blinks from Shikamaru's chocolate eyes. He walked tiredly over to his best friend, Choji, and convinced him to accompany the group. Eager to greet the mystery newcomer, they split up into teams consisting of Shikamaru, Choji, and Ashiri; and Naruto and Hinata. Wherever the newbie was, they couldn't be far.

_Where am I?_ Kerushi Shimashita finally got her tired eyes to focus on her surroundings. _My body feels so heavy…It's so hard to move_…A pink-haired kunoichi knelt above her, green medical chakra flowing from her steady hands and into Kerushi. _Who is that? I just remember walking through some forest…_

"Wh-what happened?" she asked, figuring she'd inquire of the person's identity later; she obviously wasn't doing her any harm.

"My partner and I found you at sundown…It looks like you set off some sort of a trap, considering these senbon all seemed to come from the exact same angle with the exact same force. We deactivated most of the traps, but I still wouldn't drop my guard if I were you. My name's Sakura Haruno; I'm a medical ninja. You're not injured very badly, but you'll probably be better off if you took it easy at least until you're feeling better."

_Senbon? What is she talking ab-Oh._ Looking down at her body, Kerushi noticed that there were at least a hundred senbon sticking out of her body, and over fifty on the floor in a little puddle of blood. She looked like the voodoo doll of an extremely depressed person with anger issues and a like for stabbing innocent dolls.

"I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am," Kerushi thanked. "My name's Kerushi Shimashita…It was supposed to be Jinuce, but I changed it."

Sakura laughed politely, still trying to focus mainly on removing the inch deep senbon from the injured girl.

"That's funny," Sakura commented, not really knowing what else to say at first. "I see you're a ninja from Konohagakure," she looked down briefly to a spot on her upper thigh where a leaf headband was tied, protecting that small section from the abundance of senbon.

"Oh, yeah. You too, I see." Kerushi giggled at the smallness of the world. Sakura had to have been the same age as her.

"It's odd that we haven't met before," Sakura contemplated, "I mean….Konohagakure's not that big." Three more senbon came out.

"It's not all that odd," Kerushi debated, "My family wanted to tutor me privately, so when I was ready to become a kunoichi, I just had to take this evaluation test thing." She bit her lip in pain as a senbon on her abdomen came out rather stubbornly.

"Sorry about that," Sakura apologized quickly for the pain, "It's cool that you got private tutoring, though. Did you like it?"

"Yeah, it's not all that bad," Kerushi answered optimistically, "I trained with this girl named Ashiri; she's my best friend. Actually, she was with me earlier, but we got separated…She's got brownish-red hair and she's kind of, um…bold….Have you seen her?"

"No, I haven't…" Sakura said. "I'm sure she can't be that far off, though. She might be in this building."

"Yeah, you're right." Kerushi agreed, closing her eyes from exhaustion. Getting involuntary acupuncture was pretty tiring.

"Sakura," a deep voice said quietly. Kerushi bolted open her eyes at the unfamiliar vocal pitch. "It's just a castle, but I can sense people up these stairs, so I doubt there are any traps set on the inside."

Squatting next to Kerushi, he now addressed her, "It's good to see that you're awake. We're going to progress upstairs and try to talk to whoever's up there. That's after you're feeling better, of course." Kakashi's single exposed eye arched upward from a hidden smile.

Kerushi smiled back, relatively awe-stricken by the utter handsomeness of the man…The way his unkempt silver hair looked made Kerushi want to tousle it, and his covered face left her pondering its mystery.

After a while, Sakura had gotten Kerushi back to decent health, and she could at least walk, with a little help. Kerushi tried to take in as much of her habitat as possible. Looking around, there was nothing special about her surroundings; it was as boring as a wine cellar…Actually, it _was_ a wine cellar. She was surrounded by barrels and barrels of wine fit for a king. It smelled terrible down there to Kerushi, almost like strong cranberry juice that had been sitting out for too long.

_Ugh, rich people_…Kerushi hated how most people with exorbitant amounts of money spend at least a third of it buying alcohol to saturate themselves with…The wine's smell was getting to her easily. Sakura helped her walk, and the two kunoichi followed Kakashi up the stairs. The silent walk up was painstakingly slow for Kerushi, every stair challenging her vessel's will.

Once at the top of the stairs, they heard a tired, nasally voice coming from the other side of the door. The only one who didn't recognize it was Kerushi. Sakura let out a relieved sigh, glad to know that they didn't have to sneak through the mansion. Kakashi opened the wooden door, holding it for the two women.

"Hey, Shikamaru, hey Choji." Sakura greeted. "We finally found you!"

"You're telling me," Shikamaru yawned.

"Uhhh, Shikamaru," Choji's gruffer voice spoke up, "There's three of them…Wasn't there supposed to be only one? What does this mean?" His chubby face crumpled up, his spiraled cheeks puffing out slightly in confusion.

"Meh, we'll ask Ashiri in a little while," he responded tiredly. "It's past dark, and I'm exhausted. Let's just check in with the others, and-"

"Did you say Ashiri?" Kerushi perked up, suddenly able to walk on her own almost perfectly.

"Uhh, yeah. Who are you? Do you know her or something?" Shikamaru sighed._ More troublesome talking_, he thought to himself, _how annoying_.

"I'm Kerushi Shimashita. Is she here? Where is she? Take me to her!"

"Okay, okay," Shikamaru accepted, scratching his head. "Just wait a second, will you? Yare, yare….Oi! Ashiri!" the shadow user called for the slinky diva who was down a hallway, out of sight.

"You called, Shika-sama?" her breathy voice sounded before she rounded the corner and appeared in everyone's line of sight.

"Shika-sama, did you…Kerushi?"

"Ashiri, you jerk-face! You totally abandoned me back there! What happened to partnered training?" Kerushi shrieked at the chic woman.

Everyone but Ashiri was dumb-stricken by her word choice. "Jerk-face?" Who said that, anyway? Did that even count as an insult?

"Awww…Kerushi, I'm sorry." The woman walked up to Kerushi and put her hands on her shoulders. Taking her hands off of her shoulders, she held her hands up, all fingers down but her extended pinkies. Kerushi did the same thing, linking her pinkies with Ashiri's. They kissed each other's cheeks in a friendly greeting, then simultaneously said, "_Merde."_ Out of nowhere, Kerushi's pain was completely discarded, and the two friends laughed together; high-pitched innocent laughing and lower-pitched breathier laughing joined in unison.

Every onlooker raised at least one eyebrow, suspicious of the level of friendship of the two kunoichi.

"One second, Kerushi," Ashiri paused laughing, turning to Shikamaru. "Shika-sama," she breathed, putting one of her hands on the back of his neck, and the other pressed flush to his exposed chest, "I must apologize…My friend and I are going to talk for a while, so forgive me if I can't assist you tonight."

Shikamaru's eyebrow returned to its normal position, while the others' stayed raised, now suspicious of what "assistance" the genius needed when he should be sleeping…He didn't seem to have a problem sleeping any other time…

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed at Ashiri, who was still clinging to his body.

"And you," Ashiri addressed Kakashi, gliding over to him. "You're the knight in shining armor that saved my friend, right? Let me know if you need anything, _anything_ at all." She stroked his face and hair, her seductive eyes looking more near his kunai pouch than his covered face, before eventually removing herself and returning to her friend and walking away with her to explain the situation and exchange stories.

After several awkward moments, Choji decided to duck out of the conversation and return to his edible friends back in the great hall after excusing himself.

"Ummm," Choji fumbled cumbersomely, "I'll go tell the others…I'll be in the great hall if you need me after that."

Leaving, Choji practically ran to tell Hinata and Naruto, thinking that the sooner he told them, the sooner he could eat.

"I'll just show you where you can sleep, I guess," Shikamaru offered. "There are a lot of them, so you'll have a pretty good range of choices."

"Sounds good," Sakura agreed.

"Thank you, Shikamaru," Kakashi said.

_A/N: Hey everyone! Things might change a little bit, in a way you miiight not like it, BUT don't worry, because this story is still labeled as KakaSaka and I plan to keep it as such. To answer a few questions, Ashiri and Kerushi are NOT lesbians, they're just really close friends. Also, another funny story...(No, no response from my English teacher...yet.) I was sitting at my desk, writing this very chapter of fanfic, when this super loud noise came about and SHOOK my house! It sounded like a body got dropped on top of my ceiling! Next thing I know, my brother started complaining that his computer had sparks flying out of it, and a few seconds later, my internet crashed. Let me explain...Basically, what happened is we had this really bad thunder storm, and my house got struck my lightning...Then our phone line got knocked out, too; which is how we get our internet. So I didn't get to post my new chapter right away, or watch the new episode of Shippuden that I thought I was going to be able to watch...Ugh. But things are better now, considering I've posted this, and you've read it! AND I watched that episode of Naruto! (ep. 230, Revenge of the Shadow Clones.) I hope your week wasn't as hectic! Did you like this chapter? I hope so! And to answer some of your questions, Hinata does not have two sins. Also, a few things about this chapter...When I was writing about Kerushi's climb up, and I said, "The silent walk up was painstakingly slow for Kerushi, every stair challenging her vessel's will," I totally thought of Orochimaru with the word "vessel." Just sayin'. SPEAKING OF OROCHIMARU, Dolphinz514 and I are doing a collaboration story with Orochimaru...It should be pretty epic. We'll both put them up on the site when we're done! (They're short stories for our English class that we have together.) XD I'll also let you know how she takes the whole "headband" thing._

_Sorry for the long author's note! I'll try to keep them shorter from now on! ...Maybe. Let me know what you thought in the reviews! Thanks!  
>-Freyja<em>


	9. Inner Machinations

_AN: Hey everyone! There seems to be a little bit of confusion in regards to the previous chapter. As Dolphinz514 had suggested, a day had passed since Kakashi and Sakura were at the fortune teller's house, so they spent a day going through the forest to get to the castle with everyone else...Sorry for the editing fail, hahaha...It wasn't a good week for me, but I can explain that after you read this chapter, in another author's note (if you really care all that much, you can read it.) My sincerest apologies for any confusion; I'll make sure it doesn't happen again...Now read this chapter! :D_

Shikamaru lead the remaining duo on a short tour of the available rooms. The tour didn't last long, considering Sakura collapsed onto the bed of the first open room she spotted, and Kakashi didn't care where he spent the night.

"Thanks again, Shikamaru," he'd said. Shikamaru was gladly surprised when he had finished showing the newcomers to their rooms so early. He could've sworn that Sakura would've spent hours arguing with her inner thoughts over which room she wanted to sleep in. (He was overjoyed that this hadn't turned out to be the case.)

"Yeah, no problem, I guess," Shikamaru had replied, placing his tan hand on the back of his neck. "My room's the last one on the left at the end of this hallway if you need me."

"I should be fine," Kakashi said, knowing that the shadow user only said this out of politeness. He doubted Shikamaru would really be okay if he was woken up. "Thanks, though. Try to get some sleep."

"Yeah." Shikamaru walked down the long passageway to his room.

_Well, Shikamaru's response was expected, but I'm a little surprised at Sakura, _Kakashi worried, _I would've thought that she'd have looked at at least two rooms before deciding on one to stay in…I wonder if she's alright…I should go check on her_. Kakashi walked casually to the room next to his. Knocking on the door three times, he listened carefully for an answer to the door, but heard nothing.

"Sakura, are you alright?" he asked through the elegant wooden door. "Sakura?"

Still no answer.

"Sakura, I'm coming in." He twisted the doorknob with his gloved hand, opening the door slowly and walking in the room.

Sakura was already fast asleep on the bed, curled up into a ball on top of the covers with her disheveled bubblegum hair spilling all over her face. She looked so innocent, so carefree….Like all of the stress she'd previously had had simply melted away. She wore the same thing she'd worn all day, not even taking the time to take off her kunai pouch.

_That'll be sore in the morning if she leaves it like that_, Kakashi figured. _I'd better take it off for her…_

Silently approaching the sleeping kuoichi, Kakashi delicately removed the kunai pouch attached to her upper thigh. He was worried that she would wake up at one point, when his hand lightly grazed the inside of her leg on accident, but she was out cold, and didn't even stir at his touch.

_Her skin is so soft, but so cold_… he thought to himself, blushing slightly under his mask. Putting his hand to her skin again to check the temperature, he decided that she should really be under the covers. He returned to his room for a comforter to place over the dreaming girl. As soon as the blanket was put on top of her, she let out a light moan, and her cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink. Kakashi stood there, mesmerized at the sight of the sleeping flower before him. He knew he should leave, but he couldn't help but stand over her and gaze at her in her sleep.

Finally, after a few minutes, the silver haired copy ninja brought himself to leave her side and go to his own room. Walking into the royal blue carpeted suite, he decided to look around the bedroom and its adjoining bathroom and lounge area. All of the rooms were fit for a feudal lord, with their extravagant furniture and décor.

_I guess I should get some sleep_, Kakashi contemplated, moving to the coverless bed in his room. After taking off his gear and clothes, he put on a pair of lounge pants and stretched out on the mattress, hands behind his head. Although he did want to go to sleep, he couldn't stop thinking about the day. _Who was that woman from earlier?_ _The bold one with the personality and appearance of a temptress. Everything about her dripped sexuality: her voice, her body, her clothes, her actions, even her hair was arousing, the way it messily fell around her shoulders and down her back. It was like she came straight out of the Icha Icha Paradise series. My, how Jiriaya would've loved to get his hands on her…literally. But who wouldn't?_

Although the casual Jonin scolded himself for thinking about the seductive woman from earlier, he couldn't help but picture her. If she was so bold publicly, what was she like in private? She didn't seem to be made uncomfortable easily, even in the presence of strangers. After all, he and Sakura had only just arrived…

He and Sakura.

…_Sakura…Sakura was my pupil; I can't compare her to the woman from earlier…_But he couldn't help it. Putting Sakura in the same place as Ashiri made Kakashi's body burn, making him glad that he had given his comforter to Sakura, because covering was the last thing he wanted at the moment. Sakura, who had slept so peacefully…Sakura, who had slept in the same bed as him at the fortuneteller's house in the Village of Shadows. Memories of that night rushed back into his head. That night, Sakura had subconsciously cuddled him in her sleep, putting her hands on his chest, and placing her leg up over his. _Could she have a more suggestive side?_

No, that was nonsense. She was unconscious, it's not like she was aware of what she was doing…Kind of like Gai…Kakashi had spent a night in a four-man tent with Gai on a mission, and Gai had sprawled out over the whole tent in his sleep, spread-eagle, and taking up the whole area, unaware that half of him was on top of a rather uncomfortable Kakashi. (It was at that time that Kakashi decided it would be better to sleep outside of the tent, on the grass.) Sakura wasn't aware that she had come into such close contact with Kakashi, just like Gai was (hopefully) unaware of the fact that he had practically molested his rival while he was sleeping…It was sheer coincidence…

But what if it wasn't?

The compassionate shinobi was lost in thought, arguing with himself over whether or not Sakura's cuddling was intentional and whether or not he should concern himself with these thoughts. Just thinking of her in any way other than a pupil made him feel like a pedophile, but he couldn't stop. Sleeping in that bed with her, watching her calm expression and relaxed body made him feel a connection for more than just student and sensei.

_She wouldn't accept me_, Kakashi painfully told himself, _I'm fourteen years older than her, and she's gotta be freaked out that my sin is lust. She'll totally think I'm a creeper…_

Not being able sleep because of his mind, the troubled shinobi decided to go take a shower to clear his head. The water was hot, clouding up the bathroom mirrors and windows with foggy condensed water droplets, as if the stress in his mind was being released and turned into steam…Lots of steam.

Sakura woke up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Bolting upright, she noticed several things that seemed out of place to her.

_Did I cover up before I went to bed?_ she thought, not remembering pulling any blankets over her, let alone going to get an extra comforter that didn't match her bedspread at all. _Oh well,_ she discarded the worry,_ I was pretty tired, I'm just probably not remembering everything clearly._

Now feeling too cold, she got up to pull back the blankets she was sleeping on top of so she could slip in between them, with the extra one on top, of course.

_Huh…_She pondered, starting to feel a little uneasy, _I'm still in my clothes, but my kunai pouch is on the side table…That's just weird. First the blankets and now this? What's going on?_ Ultimately, though, she discounted this second pondering as well, and decided to go back to sleep.

Although her body was exhausted, and begged her mind to settle down and get some rest, her thoughts were too intense to sleep.

_I can't help but think of that night Kakashi and I spent at Orakuru's house_, she recalled, _It's weird to admit because he was my sensei and all, but when he was changing…Hmmm…_

Out of nowhere, Sakura had an unbearable feeling in her abdomen like she was being stabbed with a hot kunai. She doubled over from the pain, clutching her stomach in hopes of making it go away. Exiting her room irritably, she looked quickly for some kind of simple root she could ingest to make the pain go away. Finally, she came across a commonly used plant for relieving pain and curing nausea. Eating the root, she noted that it tasted differently than she remembered, but discarded the feeling and walked back to her room, feeling better now that she knew the pain would be over soon.

Opening the door, her vision became blurry and she got dizzy, feeling as though the world was gyrating and spinning, giving her a headache. She noticed that something about her room was different, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was in her current state of disorientation.

_What's happening to me?_ she panicked, unsure of what was going on. Before getting too far into her thoughts, though, her dizziness got the better of her. She wavered a little, before her body went limp and fell to royal blue carpeted ground and she blacked out completely.

_AN: Ooohhh, what's going to happen? I know, of course, but I can't tell you, 'cause that'd be cheating! XD As promised, I have much to tell you...(Muahahaha!) As for the explanation in my editing trip up; The past few weeks, I've been really depressed. (But no one wants to hear sob stories, lol. I'm better now, if that makes you feel better! :D) I tried to do some thinking to clear my mind and figure out what was causing me to be so sad all the time, and found out that it was my accidentals group at school. (It's like the honors choir in the honors choir...Sooo like, really elite, I guess?) I just got sick of the redundant drama every week and ultimately decided to quit...I have better things to do. XD AND I told you that I'd dish when my English teacher brought up the ninja headband! (It's kindof a funny story, haha.) She was like, "What's that thing on your head?" So I responded with, "It's a ninja headband." And naturally, she sees me as the three year old kid obssessed with dinosaurs, but with ninjas instead, so she gives me this blank look and is like, "Ohhhhhh." You know the kind. And then I try to explain further with, "It's from a show. It's called Naruto, it's an anime about ninjas." So she cocks her head to the side and asks, "What's anime?" I just about peed my pants mentally. XD Long story short, she had no idea what I was saying even after the five-minute explanation, and still thinks I'm a nerd. (Go nerds!) Good news, though: she asked my friend and I to join the school newspaper staff and write weekly stories...Cool, I guess? Except she wants it to be all clishe-angsty...XD Oh well. I'm excited! Also, Dolphinz514 and I are doing a collaborative Naruto fanfic which we wrote for our English class...So I'll post that within the next couple of weeks, hopefully! I love you all so super much, and the wonderful reviews I get from you! *hint, hint* ;D  
><em>_-Freyja_


	10. Fever

_AN: Just a warning, if you haven't seen the Kakashi Chronicles (Naruto Shippuden episodes 119 and 120,) this contains a little spoiler nugget...But if you cared all that much, you wouldn't be reading fanfiction, am I right? Anyway, go ahead and read this, it's not a super big spoiler, it's just a little one. Continue reading!_

Wrapping his robust figure in a fluffy white towel, Kakashi went to the bathroom's full-length mirror. Wiping off the steam that had fogged up the mirror, he took a moment to look over his appearance. Miniscule water droplets still clung to his skin, and his hair finally learned to obey the laws of gravity while it was wet, obscuring his face with its darkened color, a shadowy metallic charcoal from the hydration of the water. Running his fingers briskly through the strands, the copy ninja tried to get his locks to cooperate and stay out of his mismatching eyes.

After messing with his hair for a while, his attention was brought to the scar over his eye, where his scarlet sharingan had been transplanted for his original charcoal eye. He had been in a fight with an experienced shinobi, who had slashed his left eye out with a kunai, rendering it useless. Lucky for him, a replacement was right around the corner, but Kakashi would've gladly kept his sightless eye if only the sharingan donor could've been spared. To look at his reflection was to relive that painful day, so he would usually try not to look in the mirror if he could help it. Tracing the scar with his finger, Kakashi was completely lost in a trance, trapped by the memories his echo invoked.

A light thud coming from the adjoining bedroom emanated throughout his suite, barely audible. Snapping back into the present, the ninja curiously returned to his bedroom, startled to find an unconscious kunochi sprawled out on his soft blue carpet. Rushing to her side, Kakashi lifted her up in his muscular arms and carried her to his coverless bed, gently laying her limp body down onto the plush mattress he had previously occupied. Although he was wondering why Sakura had been found unconscious on his bedroom floor, it was more important to make sure she was okay than to inquire about such trivial things.

Touching his hand to her broad forehead, the compassionate ninja felt for her temperature, her pale skin burning his hand.

_She's got a fever…_

Quickly, Kakashi fetched a washcloth from the bathroom, running it under cold water before returning to Sakura's side and placing the chilled damp cloth over her feverish skin.

Normally her fair skin, though pale as a newborn lamb's coat, would give off a healthy glow. Now, her skin looked pallid and sickly, and no such glow was to be seen, except for the pink glow her cheeks were giving off as a result of the fever.

_No wonder she didn't debate over a room_…Kakashi figured. _She's really sick…But she would've stayed asleep in her room, if she's this ill…There has to be something that woke her up. Why did she come into my room? Did someone go into her room?_

Worried about the still unconscious Sakura, Kakashi created a shadow clone to make sure there wasn't anything suspicious in her room.

"Go investigate the room next door," the original Kakashi ordered politely, his hand still keeping the washcloth on the pale girl's forehead. "Bring back a blanket, she's probably feeling cold, despite her fever."

With that, the shadow clone left the room, only to come back within a few minutes. After receiving an inquisitive look from the original copy ninja, the clone replied with a brief report of his findings.

"There was no one in the room, nor any signs of an intruder." Holding up a blue comforter, he walked toward the bed and gently laid the blanket over the sleeping girl.

"Thank you," the real Kakashi said, "Would you bring me a bucket of cold water from the bathroom?"

Silently, the copy went into the bathroom and drew a bucket of cold water. He then brought it back into the bedroom area and set it on the side table next to the duo.

"Thanks again," the original obliged. "You're dismissed."

With a puff of white smoke, the shadow clone was gone. Kakashi took the washcloth and dunked it in the cool water, ringing it out over the bucket, and placing it once more over Sakura's brow. The cloth heated up remarkably quickly, and Kakashi needed to re-submerge it into the water about every minute.

_Why is she this sick?_ Kakashi wondered._ She's a medical ninja…Medics get sick very rarely. What's going on?_

After a few minutes, Sakura's fever finally returned to an almost-normal temperature, and the pink on her cheeks faded a little.

_That's good_, he thought,relieved, _her fever's going away._

He stroked her strawberry hair with his fingers, glad that she was getting better, at least for the moment.

_Her hair is like silk_, he thought, hypnotized by the soft texture of her bubblegum locks.

A little while passed, and Sakura moaned lightly, shifting under the covers. Kakashi pulled back his hand and stared at the girl. Letting out a well-earned sigh, she moved her hand out from under the covers and brought it to her forehead, still damp from the cloth. Running her delicate fingers through her hair, she sat up in the bed and barely opened her eyes. Rubbing her eyes, she looked to her left.

"Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, putting her fingers to her nostrils to hide a trickle of blood. "Why are you in a towel?"

_AN: Ohhh, yay. Sorry for the short chapter, I'll update again soon to make up for it. ;D Just wanted to say thanks to Asayo for inspiring me to write my story. She's a great author, so if you haven't read her KakaSaku story yet, you should; it's super addicting! Also, thanks to Prescripto13 and Dolphinz514 for continuing to read and review. Thanks to everyone reading this for sticking with me since the beginning. Your reviews totally rock my world, so if I haven't mentioned you in my author's note, just know that I'm thinking of you and your constant support! You guys rock my world! Anyway, super big thanks, and lovely hugs to all of you guys! If you've got an opinion or advice on my chapter, you know the drill; that review buttons' right there! (I know you're looking at it...Come on, click it! Click! Click!) I'd love to hear from you!  
><em>_-Freyja_


	11. Chicken Drummies

"Umm," he started awkwardly, pulling the towel over his legs to make sure he wasn't exposed, "About that…"

Sakura's big green eyes looked at the out-of-place ninja, her hand still positioned under her nose to conceal a trickle of blood that had trailed down to her lip. Kakashi's body was almost completely exposed, and still moist from his shower. Beads of water clung to his flawless skin, not wanting to let go of his fit body. His silver hair was temporarily contained as it was still wet, dripping moisture onto his toned chest every so often. Visible steam lingered in the doorway behind her past sensei, crowding the room and forming a thin barrier between the couple and the next room, which was connected to this one by a trail of wet footprints on blue carpet. Blue. Sakura's carpet was red, last time she had checked.

"Umm….Kakashi-sensei," she spoke up slowly, trying to grasp the situation she was in, "What happened?"

"Right," he said, taking a moment to try and collect his thoughts, "I could ask you the same question. Don't you remember anything?" she shook her head, still shaky at speaking. "What's the last thing you remember, then?" the half naked shinobi inquired.

"Well," the still bed-ridden kunoichi recalled, "I went to sleep, and then woke up because of a nightmare I'd had, but then I felt sick…So I went to find some kind of quick-fix root, but it was dark, so I grabbed a familiar-looking one and went back to bed, but something was different…And then I passed out, but that still doesn't exp-" she stopped her speech completely. "Ohhh….Che, I probably took the wrong root! Tsunade would beat the crap out of me if she found out that I screwed up…Aww, man. No wonder I was so dizzy…"

"Then you must've just ended up in my room by accident," Kakashi figured. "I found you unconscious on my floor, after I got out of the shower." she nodded, understanding now that the towel wasn't just for show. "You had a pretty bad fever, so I just tried to bring it down a little bit with cold water, but I can't imagine it's helped much."

"No, it did, actually," she consoled, putting the back of her hand to her wide forehead, "Thanks, Kakashi."

"Oh," he said nonchalantly, "Don't thank me; you would've done the same for me."

Silence filled the next couple of seconds like a dirty comment fills a mind with imaginitive thoughts. Tangible awkwardness suffocated Sakura, until Kakashi finally decided to speak up.

"So uh," he fumbled, standing up from his knees, "I'm gonna go change."

"Right," Sakura agreed quickly, "I'll just head back to my room now."

"Can you make it all right?" Kakashi made sure, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah," she assured, pulling Kakashi's blankets off of her, "I'll be fine, I promise." Standing up, she outstretched her arms toward her ex-sensei. "Thanks again, Kakashi," she said, walking toward him and embracing him in a tight hug with her body pressed against his bare chest. At first, he was too shocked to hug back, but after a little while, he held her back, savoring the brief moment.

The next morning, Sakura got out of bed late and came downstairs to the great hall to find something to eat.

_Wow,_ she thought, looking at the filled end of the long dining table in the room, _If Shikamaru's already up, then I must've really slept in! _

Kerushi and Ashiri were sitting next to each other, with Shikamaru and Choji across from them, and Naruto and Hinata toward the end. Naruto was seated at the head of the table, but stood on his chair, rambling on loudly about the inconveniencies of the summoning jutsu.

"Ero-sennin was like, 'NARUTO! You have to connect with Mr. Gamariki, or you're a total failure at life!'" and I was like, 'Ero-Sennin, I don't want Mr. Gama-tranny over here to get any ideas, dattebayo!' but he was like, "Naruto, you'll always be a failure at life unless you train with Mr. Gamariki, cha!'"

"I highly doubt Jiraiya said those exact words," Shikamaru commented, chuckling slightly at the hyperactive ninja's highly exaggerated enthusiasm.

"I doubt your FACE said those exact words!" Naruto shot back, pointing a chicken drumstick at Shikamaru. Kerushi busted out laughing, almost inhaling her water.

"HA!" she snickered, "He said 'FACE!'" Covering her mouth, she continued giggling.

"Geez, Naruto," Sakura snorted, walking down the stairs in her pajamas, "You're in a good mood for being stuck in a castle." Taking the empty seat next to Kerushi, she grabbed a plate and dished up a few items of food before pouring herself a glass of water.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto practically yelled, "When did you get here?"

"Last night, baka," she answered teasingly.

"Naruto, we just finished telling you this, not even five minutes ago!" Choji grunted with a mouth full of chicken.

"No you didn't; you told me about the new chick!" he whined defensively.

"She came in with Kakashi and Sakura," Shikamaru informed.

"Kakashi-sensei's here too?" Naruto beamed.

"Yeah, we just said that," Shikamaru mumbled.

"Well SORRY!" Naruto shouted, throwing up his arms. "I was in the middle of a story about a creepy pedophile frog who wanted in my pants!"

"Naruto," Choji cut in, "We told you that story before you even thought about talking about the summoning jutsu."

"YOUR MOM, DATTEBAYO!"

"HAHAHAHA!" Kerushi blurted out again.

"Holy crap, Naruto," Sakura mocked, "You have the worst comebacks in the world."

"Okay, thanks, Sakura. Can I finish my story now?" Naruto complained, throwing the chicken drummie back onto his plate.

"Go ahead and tell your story, Naruto," Ashiri answered. "I'm listening."

"Thank you!" he shouted. "So as I was saying, Gamariki kept wanting to make out with me and have my babies and stuff. It was so gross! So finally, I just told Ero-sennin that I wanted to use my own summons, so I did the procedure, and then Gamakichi and Gamatatsu showed up and kept singing this weird frog song thing and hopping around, and they made me jump and sing, and then Gamakichi told me that I should climb in Gamatatsu's mouth. It was all squishy and nasty, and he said I tasted bad, but I thought that was weird, because I think I taste pretty good. There was this one time I was eating ramen, and I wasn't paying attention, so I accidentally-"

"Naruto, this story isn't going anywhere," Sakura interrupted.

"THAT'S BECAUSE I WASN'T DONE YET!"

"Just let him finish," Ashiri ruled over Kerushi's constant laughter.

"Ugh," Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fiiiine."

"So I wasn't paying attention, and I totally bit my hand, and it hurt really bad, but I thought I tasted pretty good, so if I'm ever gonna starve, I'd have no problem eating my own foot or hand or something."

"If you were going to starve, couldn't you just eat with Gamatatsu at Mount Myobuku?" Sakura questioned.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Naruto flipped out, pounding his fists on the table, sending chicken drummies flying all around the table. (Which Choji was quick to clean up.)

"Hey, hey, calm down, Naruto," came a familiar voice from the staircase above. Kakashi walked down the stairs, just wearing a sleeveless navy blue shirt with an attached half mask.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto greeted, his face lighting up.

The ninja with the flyaway hair stood next to Naruto, eyebrows raised expectantly, as Naruto's face turned into a childish pout.

"You're always late! What's your excuse this time? We're almost done with breakfast!"

"Oh, you see," Kakashi laughed heartily, placing his hand on the back of his neck, "I noticed the detailed architecture of this house, and had to stop and admire it."

"That's a lie!" Naruto scolded, pointing the same chicken drummie dramatically at Kakashi. "Where were you _really_?"

Not able to come up with an excuse good enough to satisfy the spiky haired knucklehead, Kakashi remained silent.

"I bet you were reading that hentai again, weren't you?" Naruto accused, sending Kerushi into a fit of hysterics. "Book perv."

_AN: Hey everyone! Oh my gosh, my week was so hectic! My computer got SEVEN viruses somehow, and I had to back up all my files and take my computer in to be debugged...Sadly, the only way that was possible was for it to be returned to its manufactured settings. So I got to start over the set-up process all over again! Anyway, I got my computer back today, and was totally psyched to start writing again! If you've been reading my other author's notes, I told you about my one-shot that I wrote for my English class. The one that I did as a collaboration with Dolphinz514? Well, the condensed version that I turned in for class is posted, so if you want to check that out, it's called "Kidnapped." It's got Kerushi and Ashiri from this story, as well as Shikamaru, Kakashi, Orochimaru, and Kabuto. (Although I couldn't get into a ton of detail about personalities and such because I sadly had a five page-double spaced limit.) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, and if you read my new one-shot, I hope you like that one, too! I'd love to hear what you have to think in a review, and so would my puppy, Thor! (Although he's really a 150-pound blonde Great Pyranese...) Please don't make Thor sad by not reviewing! His cuteness is telling you to review! :D_


	12. Devious Smiles

After breakfast, the group of ninjas cleared their plates -or really, Choji cleared their plates for them- and they moved into the lounge area of the great hall, near Shikamaru's maroon couch by the staircase. Shikamaru and Ashiri occupied the chaise lounge, with Kerushi sitting in between Sakura and Hinata on a longer maroon couch. Choji and Kakashi each sat in individual chairs, and Naruto sprawled himself out on the floor, in the center of all of the arranged furniture.

"Will somebody please explain to me what the heck is going on?" Naruto complained, hitting his hands on the area rug over the wooden floor.

"Naruto, have you been listening to any of us?" Sakura said irritably, folding her arms and crossing her legs.

"I try not to," he sighed, his eyes closed. Peeking them open to see Sakura's furious reaction, he sat up screaming, "It was a joke! A joke! Calm down, Sakura!"

"Naruto," Kakashi calmly intervened, crossing his arms, "What do you need explained?"

"How about we start with…Hmmm…Everything?" Naruto answered sarcastically.

"NARUTO!" Sakura bellowed threateningly. (At which point, Kerushi and Hinata, who were on the couch with her, looked awkwardly at her from the menacing outburst.)

"No, Sakura," Kakashi pacified, "He's got a point. We should talk things over from the very beginning and figure out how everyone plays into this. I guess that means we need to start with Shikamaru and Choji, considering Naruto is just as lost as we are."

"HEY!" Naruto interrupted, "I'm not completely lost, dattebayo!"

"I think Shikamaru should explain it," Sakura refused bitterly, fixing the direction of the fabric on her fuzzy pink pajama pants.

Shikamaru looked up slightly from his lounging. Ashiri, who had positioned herself in between Shikamaru's legs and was lying on top of him with her head on his chest, also turned her attention to the group.

"Naruto was there," Shikamaru permitted lazily, with an unconcerned wave at the group, "He can fill you in."

"YESSSS!" Naruto triumphed, letting the "s" on the end of his victory shout resound until Sakura's threatening look forced it to silence itself. Bolting upright in excitement, he smiled that wide, cheesy, knucklehead smile, and threw his arms out as if hitting them on an invisible counter.

"So there I was, face-to-face with the leader of the whole organization of rogue ninjas. He was as ugly as the backside of one of Orochimaru's vessels in the third curse mark stage, and he had this really nasty bottom lip that stuck out like one of those hideous grouper fish that live in the ocean and have the dangly forehead lights."

Kerushi spurted out in laughter, putting her hands over her mouth to simmer her outburst. Naruto noticed her reaction, (as it was impossible _not_ to,) and grasped the opportunity to expand upon his story.

"I know, right?" he called to Kerushi, who had _obviously _been affected by his descriptions, "It gets better!"

Now back into bard mode, Naruto continued with his story.

"So I told him that I didn't want to fight, and that he should come back to the village prison quietly if he didn't want to get killed, but for some reason, whenever criminals get told that, it's like they _want_ to get whipped or something. Anyway, he was pissed that we found out about his crimes and stuff, so he was like, 'I'm not going anywhere.' and I was all, 'Well fine, have it your way, but I've been told to annihilate you on spot if you resist.'"

"S-so then what happened, N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata urged, fascinated by Naruto's literate and sophisticated way of story telling.

"So then I was like, 'Bring it, bitch; just don't complain when I rasengan your ass into the next world, dattebayo!' We started fighting, and I would've knocked him out cold from the beginning, except I couldn't stop looking at his freaky lip, so I got distracted, and eventually had to close my eyes just to stop myself from vomiting in the middle of our fight. He was pretty tough, but I totally kicked his ass. You should've seen his lip when I was done with him. That'll teach him, dattebayo!"

With a victorious fist pump for emphasis, Naruto smiled that same knucklehead grin he always wore, especially since Kerushi was exploding with laughter, and Hinata was blushing slightly with her quiet giggles.

"Naruto," Choji spoke up after the laughing had toned down a bit, "That's not what happened at all..."

At this, Sakura glared maliciously toward the spiky haired shadow clone user, cracking her knuckles one at a time.

"That's exactly what happened, dattebayo!" he defended angrily.

"Umm…No. No, it's not. You don't know what you're saying." Choji argued.

"YOUR MOM DOESN'T KNOW WHAT SHE'S SAYING, DATTEBAYO!"

Kerushi erupted hysterically, falling on Hinata's shoulder, who was scared by the sudden awkward proximity so much that she was completely silent.

"FINE! If you think you can tell it better, then by all means, go ahead! I'm sure we'd all LOVE to hear what you have to say!" Naruto exploded at Choji.

"Alright, fine." Choji agreed. "What really happened, is the leader of the rogues confronted us, and Naruto got beaten up so badly that he couldn't see. It's not that he chose not to open his eyes, he physically couldn't. Shikamaru held the guy still while I took him out. Naruto was busy fighting his shadow clones because of his blindness when it was over. Kiba and Akamaru brought the guy's body back to the village, and we decided to let Naruto heal up before we headed home, so we came to this place looking for a safe place to sleep, and maybe some medical supplies. We didn't know that the castle was cursed, so we got stuck here. _That's_ what really happened." Finishing with a smug smirk on his chubby face, Choji folded his arms superiorly.

"Thank you, Choji," Kakashi said, nodding toward the plump ninja.

"YEAH," Naruto shouted sarcastically, "THANK YOU, CHOJI."

"Wait a second," Kerushi spoke in between giggles, "When did Ashiri come in, then?"

At mention of her name, the goddess of exhibitionism sat up, sliding her being across every fiber of Shikamaru's body like taffeta across glass. Rising into a sitting position, she ran her delicate fingers through her auburn hair at the part, which caused it to cascade in waves around her face. Shikamaru also sat up and leaned against the single arm of the lounge couch. At this, Ashiri once more positioned herself on top of the lazy shinobi, sitting on the couch in the space between his legs and leaning her head against his chest.

"I got here about three days before they did," she explained. "I was out training with Kerushi, but we got separated, so I came to the castle to see if she had been here and…Well, you know how that worked out. If it's any consolation, I'm glad you guys showed up. It was getting _so lonely_." she shifted in Shikamaru's lap.

_What about Hinata?_ Sakura thought,_ I thought she wasn't supposed to leave the village…Why is she here?_

"Hinata," Sakura addressed, leaning over Kerushi to look at her, "How did you get here?"

"Oh, I…umm…" Hinata fumbled over her words, turning such a vibrant shade of red that Sakura's flaming pink pants looked white in comparison. "I…uh….I-I got l-lost while looking for herbs, a-and…"

_Oh no,_ she internally scolded herself, _No one's gonna believe me…I hate lying; I'm so bad at it…Are they gonna buy it?_

"That sucks," Kerushi sympathized, cutting off anyone else's chances of calling out Hinata's obvious bluff.

Hinata nodded in feigned agreement, relieved that no one had accused her of lying and interrogated her further.

"And then we came in, right?" Kerushi looked to Kakashi and Sakura, who nodded in response.

"What were you guys doing?" Naruto asked curiously, rolling over on the rug.

"We were looking for you, baka," Sakura lashed. "Tsunade-sama sent us out to meet up with Shikamaru and Choji so we could find you. On our way to this mansion, we came across Kerushi, who'd been victimized by a senbon trap. I healed her, and we're all here now. Everyone caught up?" Narrowing her eyes at the spiky haired ninja on the floor, she asked, "_Naruto?_"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." he agreed, waving his hand nonchalantly toward the pink haired kunoichi on the couch.

"Oh!" Kerushi exclaimed, pounding her fist on her hand excitedly, "You know what we should do?"

Nobody asked "What?" but instead looked at her quizzically.

"We should play a game! It'll help us get to know each other!" she exchanged a sly look with Ashiri, sea green eyes twinkling deviously. Ashiri sat up, attention stolen from the lounging shadow user, as she raised one of her defined eyebrows and gave a devilish side smile.

"_That_ game?" she asked Kerushi with a mischievous grin.

"Yup," Kerushi responded, eyes flaring. "We'll give you details later. Everyone in? No backing out; once you're in, you're in for good. Oh, and those who will be sitting out will have it worse than the ones playing; I'll make sure of that."

The group exchanged confused and concerned looks with each other, speculating as to what this game was that they were practically being forced into playing was going to be.

"Is everyone playing, then?" she asked, smiling. No one objected, so she clapped her hands together and jumped up to stand.

"Good…We'll play after dinner…It's more of a nighttime game anyway."

On her feet, she trotted over to the staircase by Shikamaru's couch. On the third step, she stopped and turned to Ashiri.

"Ashiri," she addressed, "I'm gonna go get everything ready…Wanna come help?"

"I suppose so," Ashiri breathed, eyebrow raised again. "This should be interesting…"

* * *

><p><em>AN: Muahahaha! What kind of game do Kerushi and Ashiri have planned for the shinobi? I garauntee you'll love it! (It's NOT Truth or Dare OR Spin the Bottle...You know how I'm against cliche things.) I'll keep the author's note short...I'm looking forward to your reviews; and a huge thank you to everyone who's been with me since the beginning! You know who you are! ;D Let me know what you think, so I can make the story more interesting, fix any issues with my writing style, and overall keep you guys satisfied! Love and hugs to all! :D<em>

_-Freyja_


	13. Hospital Visit

_AN: Hey! This chapter is taking place while Ashiri and Kerushi are setting up their mysterious game. It switches perspectives, but please bear with me...It'll all tie together soon, in a way that I think you'll like. Happy Birthday to Dolphinz514! :D Read the chapter! ;)_

* * *

><p>Back in Konohagakure, heads turned as their greedy eyes followed the sight that indulged their carnal instincts. A bouquet of flowers in her newly-manicured hands, the blonde kunoichi strutted into the Leaf Hospital, confident that a visit from her intrusive feminine charms would leave any recovering ninja completely cured of his ailment and ready to jump out of the hospital and into a hotel. Flicking an excessively long piece of hair out of her face, more for show than for practicality, she oozed up to the secretarial counter, leaning her body against the smooth surface.<p>

"Hello, miss," an older, experienced nurse said, laughing spitefully at the girl's overcompensation. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I'm sure there's something I could help you with," she spat fiercely, "Maybe a facial reconstruction surgery?"

"That was original," the amused woman combated, now raising her voice above a normal conversation's volume. "But there must be some reason you came to the hospital…Here for an STD check?"

The visitor's eyes widened in rage, feeling the awkward looks she was getting from the other people in the waiting room. One girl laughed and whispered to another who was sitting beside her.

"I most certainly am not!" she shrieked, slamming her hands onto the white countertop, fearing that rumors would circulate.

"Oh, riiiight." the old woman temporarily took back in mock apology. "That was last week. Been busy?"

"How dare you!" the insulted girl screamed, drawing even more attention to herself. "I don't need your help, thank you. I'll find someone else more willing to be courteous!" In a huff, she stormed down the hallway to where the patients' rooms were.

Meeting a male nurse along the way, she sashayed up to him, dropping her vocal tones lower, making them more breathy and seductive sounding.

"I'm looking for Kiba Inuzuka's room. You wouldn't be able to tell me where he's at, would you?"

Trying to catch his breath, the surprised young man stuttered at first.

"Umm," he said unsteadily. Now forcing his voice to sound deeper, he continued, "Room 119, down the hall."

"Thank you so much," she said, batting her eyes a little. "I appreciate it; really, I do." With that, she resumed her path to her friend's room, leaving the man taken aback and speechless in the hall.

Knocking on the door, the girl announced her arrival to the bed-ridden patient.

"Kiba, it's me," her silky voice dripped.

"Come in," he replied, quicker than would normally be expected.

Slipping inside the doorway, the purple-clad temptress ran to close the curtains and went to Kiba's bedside, glad to see that they were alone.

"I've missed you," she breathed, laying on the hospital bed in between Kiba and the railings next to the mattress.

"Ino," Kiba sighed, adjusting himself slightly. "It hasn't even been a week."

"I know," she sighed, searing him with her smoldering blue eyes, "but it's felt like so much longer." Lightly, she traced her French-tipped nails down his chest; not enough to leave scratch marks, but enough to stimulate his skin.

"Ino," he whispered in protest, "What if someone sees us?"

"No one is going to see us," she said silkily, "Why do you think I closed the curtains?"

Kiba shuddered slightly as she licked the side of his neck. Turning his head away from her, he stared at the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" she asked, narrowing her eyes a bit.

"Nothing," he denied. "Are Shikamaru and the others back yet?"

"What?" she lashed, leaning away from him slightly, "Why does that matter?"

"Look," he shot, "Are they back or not? What happened? Are they okay?"

"I'd imagine," she answered with venom in her voice, "Besides, Lady Fifth just sent Kakashi and Sakura to meet up with them. I'm sure they're fine. Don't worry about them, just relax…" she placed her hands on his chest again, putting her exposed leg up over his. Kiba remained as still as a statue, not responding to a single one of her touches.

"She sent Kakashi and Sakura?" he interrogated, getting more enraged by the second.

"Yeah, but who cares?" Ino said somewhat defensively.

"Why the hell wasn't I asked to tag along?" he shouted. At his outburst, the blonde kunoichi removed her leg from his body and sat up in the hospital bed.

"Look, if you don't want me to be here, I get it; I'll leave." she bitterly stood up, turning to escape the room. As soon as her hand was on the door handle, Kiba spoke up.

"Ino, I'm sorry," Kiba apologized, throwing the hospital blankets off of him. "I'm just pissed that they didn't ask me to come with them; it was kind of my mission originally."

"Kiba," she soothed, "You were in the hospital. Did you honestly _expect_ them to ask you? You're _still_ recovering."

"I'm fine," he lied, looking toward the obnoxious white curtains of the hospital. Why did hospitals have to be so boring? Everything was white. White floor tiles, white walls, white bed sheets, white doors, white curtains; white _everything_. This was a hospital, not an isolation room for mentally unstable people to be placed in for solitary confinement.

"Are they still in the forest?" he demanded, still looking at the revolting curtains.

"Uhhh, I guess so," Ino responded, getting a little annoyed that he kept asking about things other than her. "I have good news, though," she attempted to reclaim his attention. If she told him something good, she'd at least get the credit for telling him; and that was better than this.

"What?" he pressed on, jerking his gaze back to her eyes.

"Well, Akamaru's been released from the clinic. Hana told me that he's completely healed!"

"That settles it, then," he said distantly, jumping to his feet.

"Settles what?" she questioned, "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," he answered coldly, stretching his muscles from being bed-ridden for such a long time. "Oh, yeah." he thought aloud, looking to his tanned wrist with iv's stuck into his skin, needles still in his veins. Suddenly, he ripped the syringes out of his body, letting them fall to the ground.

"Kiba!" Ino screeched, eyes wide in shock, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm getting out of here, Ino."

Going to the coat rack in the corner of the room, he picked up his black biker jacket and threw it over his shoulders dramatically. Storming out of the room, he barely acknowledged the blonde shinobi as he huffed out of the room.

"You're still recovering!"

"So, what am I supposed to do?" he snapped angrily, "Just lie in bed while my teammates could be hurt right now? They still haven't come back yet. At least I know where they were at."

"Don't you think you should talk to the Hokage about this?" she tried to convince him, attempting to catch up with his rage-hastened pace.

"Asking gets you nowhere. I'm leaving."

Ino followed helplessly behind her enraged comrade as he stormed about, shouting about his uselessness for the past few days. He thundered to the city gate, whistling for his dog as he passed through the giant portal. With unbelievable speed, Kiba's gigantic dog, Akamaru, was at his side. The duo left hastily, abandoning Ino in the newly-kicked up dust near the gate. She blinked, too stunned for words; watching him leave the city.

"I'm gonna kick their asses," he muttered to his enraged self.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Yaaay! *twirls finger* Did you like it? Hate it? I'll never know unless you review! ANY input is greatly appreciated! Thanks for the hits! I'm glad I can at least entertain <em>some_ of you! :D And in response to Prescripto13, and anyone else who was wondering, my short story recieved a 98%, with points off for "several characters with names that were hard to pronounce, and a few unfamiliar terms, such as 'kunoichi,' 'kunai' and 'shinobi.'" XD I got a kick out of that, hahaha. I love you all; thanks again for reading and reviewing! The next chapter's interesting; I know you'll LOVE it._

_-Freyja_


	14. The Game

_A/N: Hey everyone! Are you glad that I updated after such a long time? I know I am! I kept thinking to myself, "I know what I want to happen, but how do I GET there?" And then it hit me; randomly and rather obnoxiously at an inconvenient time...Kind of like Orochimaru's curse marks. XD ...Or indigestion...STILL! I was on a tour with Dolphinz514 and our chamber chorale...We're gonna be on PBS! Anyway, we were on the bus ride home, and I was like, "OH! I know what I'm gonna write!" So I pulled out my laptop right then and there...It was kindof awkward typing on our tour bus...But after a long time, I give you the fourteenth chapter! Back with Kakashi and Sakura, the way you like it! (You DO like it that way, right?) Hahaha...JUST READ IT!_

* * *

><p>After eating dinner, the nervous shinobi headed over to the lounge area, full bellies slowing their pace. After everyone had taken a seat, Ashiri and Kerushi remained standing, exchanging very devious looks with each other.<p>

"Okay everyone," Kerushi addressed, "Listen up! You all agreed to play the game, so I don't want to hear any complaining once we start. Got it?"

"What are we playing?" Naruto questioned impatiently, practically bouncing in his seat.

"It's a little combination of 'Spin the Bottle,' 'Truth or Dare,' and "Would you Rather;' but with a twist," Kerushi answered, shooting a side smile to Ashiri. "We'll tell you the rules as we go along; it'll be easier that way. To start things off, you spin the bottle. Whoever it lands on gets to choose to admit a truth or complete a dare. And you can't back out of a dare, either. We'll start there."

Ashiri came forward, placing an expensive-looking wine bottle on the area rug in the center of the furniture, then returned to Kerushi's side. In her hands, she held a white mug and a black mug, each with small rolled up pieces of parchment.

"I don't get it," Naruto complained, adjusting his headband.

"You'll see," Kerushi replied coolly, kneeling next to the bottle. "I'll go first."

Spinning the empty wine bottle, Kerushi wore an amused expression on her face as the rest of the onlookers (except Ashiri, of course) observed the spiraling bottle, mesmerized in its twirls. Hearts pounded as the bottle slowed down, threatening them with its mysterious omnipotent judgment they had yet to experience. Finally, the corked end of the bottle pointed directly at Choji, whose swirly cheeks puffed out in confusion. He searched the room to see that everyone was staring directly at him.

"Choji," Kerushi spoke in a low tone, narrowing her eyes to add to the suspense. Talking slowly, she asked "Truth? Or dare?"

"Hmmm…." Choji pondered, a little intimidated by Kerushi's dramatic act, "Truth." _Ino's made us play these games before, and her dares are all really mean…I'll play it safe for now_, he thought strategically, like his best friend.

"Okay," Kerushi accepted, now lighting up to her normal self, "You get to take a piece of paper from the white cup."

Ashiri strutted over to where Choji was sitting, and held out the ivory cup. Nervously, Choji reached two thick fingers into the thing, taking out a slim roll of parchment.

"Kay," Kerushi giggled excitedly, clasping her hands together, "Now give it to Ashiri, so she can read it!"

Choji handed the rolled up tube of paper to Ashiri, who set down the cups to open the scroll.

"Would you rather draw your current crush, or come up with ten adjectives to describe them?" she read

"How is that a truth question?" Choji asked confusedly.

"T_his _is where the twist comes in," Kerushi taunted chaotically, "I'll explain in a second. Just choose what you'd rather do first, and then I'll elaborate."

"Ummm…" Choji fumbled, disliking being put on the spot so abruptly, "I guess…I'd rather…Describe them?"

"Okay!" Kerushi blurted loudly, "Now do it!"

"Wait, I still don't see why I have to," Choji complained, "I chose truth, not dare. How is this a truth question?" he repeated.

"Well, I guess it's not...So instead of 'Truth or Dare' this is more like 'Personally-based Dare or Not personally-based dare.' Obviously, truths are more personally based. Anyway...You have to do it! Remember? No backing out!"

"WHAT?" he gasped, wishing he'd heard wrong.

"Yup," she giggled, beaming, "Ten adjectives, and you can't say 'pretty,' 'nice' 'sweet,' 'smart,' or any other cliché words like that. Go."

Everyone's eyes were glued on a blood-red Choji. Even Shikamaru peeked open an eye to give his friend as much of an encouraging confidence boost as he could.

"Okay, umm…Well…She's compassionate…"

"Kay, that's one." Kerushi interrupted, "Keep going. We'll all count. LET'S COUNT, EVERYBODY!"

"And…loyal." Choji was reminded of how Ayame was determined to carry on her family's ramen business, even though she might have other dreams of her own.

"TWO!" Kerushi counted, grinning happily to herself at the wonderful job she had done, counting all the way to two.

"And sophisticated."

"THREE!"

"And bubbly."

"FOUR! Hey, why isn't anyone counting with me?"

"And…culinarily gifted?"

"FIVE! Nice one; you're halfway through!"

"And her hair always looks so soft…"

"That wasn't an adjective, but I'll take it anyway! SIX!"

"She's always really optimistic."

"SEVEN, keep going!"

"And she's really original."

"EIGHT!" Naruto chimed in as well.

"And…Ummm….She's selfless."

"NINE! ONE MORE!"

"I can't think of anything!" Choji exclaimed, running out of fancy descriptions to satisfy the loud game-leader.

"YOU CAN DO IT, CHOJI!" Naruto's voice was louder than even Kerushi's. "BELIEVE IT!"

"What about her eyes?" Ashiri breathed, "What color are they?"

"Brown."

"RRRRRR! WRONG! TOO CLICHÉ! Say something else!" Kerushi yelled.

"What shade of brown?" Ashiri prodded.

"Like an amber flambé." Choji answered confidently. Shikamaru smiled knowingly at his nervous friend's food-related reference.

"DING, DING, DING! TEN!" Kerushi shouted, jumping up and down in place. "Good job!" Now, Choji, you spin the bottle."

Glad to be rid of the group's attention, if only for a moment, Choji quickly flicked the neck of the bottle, sending it once more spiraling like a cylinder-shaped rasengan on the table. Once again, the glass slowed to a halt, choosing its next victim.

"FINALLY, DATTEBAYO!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping to his feet excitedly. (Obviously he was more enthusiastic than Choji.)

"Okay, Naruto," Kerushi chuckled, "Truth or-"

"DARE!" he interrupted loudly, "Just tell me what cup to take out of, already!"

"That'd be the black one," Ashiri answered for Kerushi, who was rolling on the floor in laughter. He rushed quickly over to the woman with the cups, thrusting his fingers dramatically into the ebony cup, and pulling out a piece of paper. He shot the paper up into the air triumphantly.

"ALL RIGHT!" he yelled. He handed the paper enthusiastically to Ashiri, who read the paper silently to herself before smiling.

"Would you rather go skinny-dipping in a vat of gravy, or," she smiled wickedly, holding up a few fingers for a jutsu sign as a puff of smoke surrounded them, "Make out with Orochimaru for twenty seconds?" she asked from the mist.

The mist rose, and the confusion that the second option arose was immediately discarded like a hand too close to the fire. Ashiri had transformed into none other than Orochimaru. The group roared with laughter at the sight. Even Hinata giggled quietly behind her hand. Naruto's face was frozen in a look of pure horror and disgust as "Orochimaru" rolled out "his" lengthy serpentine tongue, sliding it all around "his" face.

"HOLY CRAP!" Naruto yelled, jumping farther away from the pedophilic image. "ANYTHING BUT THAT! I'D RATHER BATHE IN GRAVY, DATTEBAYO!"

Kerushi fell to the floor in laughter. In a puff of smoke, Ashiri was back to her normal curvaceous form.

"Okay then," she spoke for Kerushi, "Everyone to the kitchen."

Every single ninja present hopped to their feet to witness Naruto's gravy baptism. In the food preparation area, there were gigantic vats of gravy that were used for banquets with a large number of guests. The number one unpredictable ninja walked up to the gravy pot, eyeing its massive size.

"This'll be fun!" he exclaimed, taking his shirt off, and tossing it into a pile where his unzipped jacket lay. He threw off his pants and was about to jump in, when Ashiri looked towards his boxers.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" she taunted.

"Right!" he agreed, completely unfazed at the request. Stripping himself of all clothing, Naruto dropped the patterned boxers to the ground and leaped into the vat of brown sauce.

"Naruto, gross!" Sakura scolded, covering her eyes after the scene had already taken place. Hinata lit up in the face like a child who'd been caught looking at her dad's extended versions of the Icha Icha Paradise books. She threw her hand over her mouth, half to hide her gasp, and half to cover up the major nosebleed she had received.

A splash of warmed gravy spattered onto the faces of the nearby victims when Naruto cannonballed into the pot. Trying to keep his head above the surface of the dressing, he raised two gravy-covered fists in the air.

"YES!" he yelled, "I JUST SKINNY-DIPPED IN GRAVY, DATTEBAYO!"

"Alright, you can come out now," Kerushi laughed, holding out a fluffy white towel.

"Aww, but it's so warm in here!" he complained, sticking out his bottom lip and receiving many humorous compliments. (Except from Sakura, who was vowing not to eat gravy for the entirety of their time at the mansion.) They headed back to the living room while Naruto adjusted himself and his clothes.

"I get to spin now, right?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Kerushi answered.

"ALL RIGHT! LET'S DO THIS!"

The bottle spun around and around, and landed exactly on Sakura.

"Okay, Sakura," Kerushi's voice resounded menacingly, "Truth…Or dare?"

"Ummm…" Sakura pondered aloud, "Dare?"

"Alright!" Kerushi accepted, "Black cup; get your butt up here!"

Sakura walked confidently up to Ashiri and picked out a scroll of paper from the charcoal cup and handed it to Kerushi, who unrolled it in one sweep and faced it to the group, only to show a blank piece of paper.

"IT'S BLANK!" Naruto shouted blatantly, pointing a straightened index finger at the small scrap.

"Thanks for that, Captain Obvious," Sakura mocked.

"What does that mean?" Choji asked, puffing his swirly cheeks out again.

"THAT means that Naruto gets to choose the dare!" Kerushi explained.

"ALLRIGHT!" Naruto shouted, "I'VE GOT A GOOD ONE, BELIEVE IT!"

Sakura face-palmed as Naruto jumped to his feet, spreading them shoulder-width apart and pointing melodramatically at the silent cherry blossom.

"Okay, Naruto," Sakura sighed, rolling her glimmering eyes, "Let's hear it."

"I DARE YOU TO KISS KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Every pair of eyes was automatically glued to Kakashi and Sakura, who was turning even pinker than her vibrant hair.

"What?" Sakura yelled in an uproar, "There's no way!"

"I agree," Kakashi interrupted, once again thankful for his obscuring face mask. "Naruto, that was out of hand, there's no way that I'm going to-"

"NOPE! YOU AGREED TO PLAY THE GAME!" Kerushi objected, "You can't back out of a dare. Backing out will have more serious consequences than I think you realize, and judging by this situation, I'm sure Ashiri's already got a good substitution to your refusal, am I right?" she shot a suggestive look at her curvy friend, who gladly returned the expression thousand-fold.

"Are you resisting?" Ashiri breathed, looking at the duo with raised eyebrows. Kakashi and Sakura exchanged uncertain glances. Finally, Sakura spoke up for the two of them.

"Yes. Yes, we are."

"Are you completely positive?" Kerushi made sure.

"Yeah," she answered, sealing their fate.

"Okay then," Kerushi accepted, looking at Ashiri once again. "Follow us."

The couple followed awkwardly behind Ashiri and Kerushi, up the stairs and past the bedrooms.

"Come here," Ashiri motioned, pulling on the chest of Kakashi's blue sleeveless shirt. She shoved him abruptly into a small room, while Sakura stood next to Kerushi in the hallway, unsure of what was going to happen to them.

"What are you doing?" she freaked out, instantly putting her guard up.

"It'll be fine," Kerushi whispered, "Just go along with it, okay? Trust me."

"O-Okayyyy," Sakura agreed wearily, teetering up to Ashiri, in the doorway.

"Just go in the room, we'll come get you in a little while. Have fun, okay?" Kerushi encouraged.

"Nothing's gonna happen, right?" she pondered.

"Well it wouldn't be interesting if nothing happened," Kerushi said seriously, winking, "What kind of punishment would that be?"

Sakura stayed silent, too shocked for words. Kakashi walked dominatingly into the door frame, and towered over the women. Sakura wasn't sure whether to be scared of his presence or be attracted to it. Naturally, having the images of what could've happened on their dare running through her mind didn't help anything on her part.

"Ladies, I don't think this is very appropriate. As if the age difference isn't enough, there's still-"

"Don't be so humble," Kerushi interrupted, "I've seen you guys,0 and the way that you look at each other. Why hide it? You two have undeniable chemistry."

Kakashi and Sakura exchanged curious glances.

"See?" Kerushi teased, nudging Sakura toward the robust copy ninja. "I'll come get you in a little bit; just calm down."

"Or not," Ashiri added playfully.

"Your time'll be up before you know it."

"How long do we have to be in here for?" Sakura asked, giving up on resisting.

"That's something that we know and you have to find out," Kerushi teased.

"Are you sure about this, Sakura?" Kakashi questioned protectively.

"Yeah, it's not that big of a deal," she reassured, "We don't have to do anything. Let's just sit in there until they let us out. Okay? It's just a game, right?"

"…Right," he submitted at last, turning to recline on the small bed inside the room. Sakura wearily walked forward, more self-confident than previously.

"Wait, Sakura," Ashiri called.

Sakura turned and approached the scantily clad kunoichi.

"What?" she asked, hoping for a time limit for the time that they had to spend alone in the room.

Ashiri swiped her hand out quickly, slashing an ebony kunai up the front of her torso, cutting her shirt wide open, and leaving her bare chest completely exposed. She swiftly pushed her into the room, towards Kakashi, and slammed the door closed. Sakura had no time to respond to the abrasive action, as she was completely caught off guard.

"Have fun."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Alrighty then! What'd you think? Scandelous, right? As soon as I thought of this (on our tour bus,) I couldn't wait to start writing this! At one point, I had to type with one hand because I had a slushie in my other hand. Dolphinz514 helped me out a TON there. She got me the first three Naruto manga volumes for my birthday, so thanks a ton, Dolphinz514! :D We had so much fun discussing this chapter! I hope you guys liked reading it as much as I liked writing it! :D Let me know in a review? Do you think Ashiri was out of line? In the line? Are you not sure? Was this well-deserved, or too soon for the couple? Are Kakashi and Sakura going to be mad at Ashiri and Kerushi? Are they gonna escape? Will there be lemon? Is Kakashi's sin gonna play out? And, DATTEBAYO, WHY WAS NARUTO BATHING IN GRAVY? Let me know what you think in a review. And maybe you have some ideas for the story! Do you want Shikamaru to get with Ashiri? Or maybe Kerushi? Or Naruto? Should Kakashi and Sakura kiss? I want to know what your minds are thinking! Review, and if I like your idea, I might just put it in the next chapter! (With credit to you, of course.) Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

_-Freyja_


	15. Kiss

_A/N: Alrighty! Sorry it took so long for the update...Again. XD But I suppose giving you excuses isn't going to solve anything. If you have been checking my profile, (I have status updates talking about what I'm doing, stories I'm thinking about, and approximately when my next update will be,) you'll know that I've been really busy with our local theatre lately. If you haven't been checking my profile for statuses, then at least you know why I haven't been updating on time. Anyway, the show's over, so I've got more time to write! Without further ado, here's chapter 15!  
><em>_  
>Endearingly yours,<br>__Freyja_

* * *

><p>Without the time to even think about what she was doing, Sakura threw her arms over her bare chest, which hardly helped at all. Because her arms were folded awkwardly in an attempt to cover her breasts, her pale abdomen was left completely exposed with the way her shirt had folded. Sakura's rounded cheeks became flushed with a violent shade of red, to make even the deepest scarlet of roses jealous. Turning away from an equally shocked Kakashi, she faced the door to yell at her captives.<p>

"What the hell!" she shrieked in embarrassment, pounding her broad forehead against the wood. "Get back here!"

No answer came from the other side of the door. For all intents and purposes, the two girls could've completely dropped off of the face of the earth.

"I can't sense their chakras," Kakashi interrupted, trying not to embarrass the girl any further. "There's probably some sort of a barrier set up around the room."

"Oh…" Sakura said shyly. _That means that I'm completely alone with Kakashi-sensei…And practically half-naked_, she thought to herself. _Great._ Half of her wanted to be unhappy at the situation that she found herself in, but the other, less containable half, wanted desperately for her sensei to see her like that and find some kind of attractiveness in her newly obtained womanly figure. Needless to say, she had a great amount of inner conflict at trying to choose which half to let take the reigns.

"Sakura, I've got a needle and thread in my pocket…I can at least sew the fabric closed."

"Oh, ummm…" she fumbled, blushing at the thought of Kakashi's hands that close to her chest, "How is that going to work?"

"Well, if you could just hold your shirt closed, I could sew it together. It won't look very good, but it's better than having it wide open."

"T-thanks," she stuttered, turning around to face him with her arms still in front of her chest, "Right. Thanks." She turned to sit on the edge of the bed, next to Kakashi. Out from his pants pocket came a needle for hand-sewing and tiny spool of white thread.

"Come here," Kakashi said softly, as he tied a knot at the edge of the section of thread. Sakura scooted closer to him, heart pounding in her chest. Kakashi delicately pushed the silver needle through the thin, red fabric of her torn shirt, being careful not to accidentally poke her skin. Sakura sat in silence as her sensei sewed her shirt back together.

"Kakashi-sensei," she spoke up after a while, "Why is this room so much smaller than the others?"

Kakashi didn't look up from his task, but remembered how the single-sized bed in the room seemed to take up half of the entire space. There was hardly room to move around, unless someone retreated to allow some limited motion.

"Well," he began, the needle past Sakura's navel and a few inches from her chest, "This mansion is pretty expansive, and someone rich probably lived here. That being said, the owners of this estate must've had several slaves to do the house work and things like that. I think this was a servant's chamber."

"Oh," Sakura noted, thinking about slavery, "I suppose that makes sense."

Kakashi nodded in response, now sewing together the part of Sakura's shirt just at her cleavage.

"So…Sensei?" Sakura prodded, trying to take the focus away from her bust.

"Mmm?"

"What do you think of the two kunoichi we just met?"

"Ahh, well.." he paused for a moment, trying to think of some way to answer. "Kerushi, the one we found; seems really bright. She laughs a lot, so she seems like she's always enjoying herself."

"What about Ashiri?" Sakura nudged.

"Uhh…She's very…Ummm…" Kakashi froze, searching for an appropriate word for the erotic woman. "Physical."

"Yeah, you've definitely got that right," Sakura scoffed, "I'm not so sure I like her."

Kakashi pondered Sakura's answer for a little while. Although he understood where she was coming from, he didn't have the same opinion. Maybe the castle's power was getting to him, after all.

"Shikamaru seems to, though," he finally answered sarcastically. Sakura laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Apparently so," she agreed, images of the two of them flooding her mind. "I didn't think Shikamaru would even be the type to deal with women or relationships. It strikes me as odd that he would concern himself with the likes of her. Of all women!"

Kakashi finished sewing Sakura's shirt, and tied off the thread at the top.

"Sakura, forgive me for interrupting, but," he started, retreating a little, "Try not to move."

Sakura, although confused and shocked, stayed completely still as Kakashi leaned his face down to the base of her neck and pulled down his mask just enough to tear through the excess thread with his teeth. Before she could see anything, he pulled his mask back over his face and leaned back once more. Stunned, Sakura couldn't speak.

"Going off of what you'd said," Kakashi continued, kindling the fire in their dying conversation, "I don't actually think that Shikamaru and Ashiri are in a relationship, but I don't see that it would be wrong if they were."

"And why is that?"

"Well, I was talking with Asuma a long time ago," he backtracked, trying to shed some light on a previous topic that was still somehow related. "Asuma was pretty close to all of his students, but out of all of them, Shikamaru was the one he was closest to, by far. Asuma had said that Shikamaru actually did want a relationship down the road, just not a flashy, dramatic, active one. Shikamaru would be the kind of person who'd want to stay at home and watch a movie instead of getting all decked out and paying a ton of money to go to a theatre. I'm not sure if he's made it public, but Shikamaru actually does want kids later in life."

"What?" Sakura gasped, laughing. "I always figured that he thought kids would be too 'troublesome!'"

"Most people think that," Kakashi chuckled, "Shikamaru's not a bad kid. He can be a little lazy at times, but if he's needed somewhere, he'll be there."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sakura concurred. "But still…Out of all people, why her?"

"Everybody's got their reasons, Sakura. Ashiri seems pretty submissive at sometimes, but her…abrasiveness…shows that she can just as easily take control."

Sakura burst into laughter, falling against the tiny bed.

"HAHAHAHA, Kakashi-sensei! I can't believe you just said that!"

Kakashi raised his eyebrow in a quizzical manner, puzzled at the out-of-place laughter.

"Said…what?" he questioned, completely oblivious to what he'd just said. Thinking it over for a moment, he threw his hands up defensively.

"Oh, Sakura! Not like that!" he denied, shaking his hands back and forth. "That's not how I meant it!"

"Haha, I know," Sakura said, calming herself down, "But I'm sure it's the same in both situations."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and nodded in silent agreement.

"What I meant was," the copy ninja rephrased, "It seems to me that if the two of them got into a relationship, Ashiri would do a significant portion of the work so that he could relax."

Sakura giggled quietly into her hand again.

"Hmm," she sighed after a while, "I still don't like her."

"To be blunt, you don't have to," Kakashi stated, "No one's making you be friends with her. We only have to be in this forest for a little longer. Although I'm still not entirely sure as to what the situation is, we only need one more person to show up. After that, I'm sure that Shikamaru will explain everything that needs to happen so we can get out."

"Wait…Haven't we already been here for a day?" Sakura questioned, tilting her head to the side.

"The timer doesn't start until all of the seven sins have gathered, remember?" he reminded her.

"Ohh…Right…" she sat up, looking at the silver-haired man, "Umm…Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, Sakura?" he responded.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Why do you always wear a mask?" she shifted her focus to the blue half mask that was attached to his smooth, sleeveless shirt.

"Oh, this?" he asked, pointing to the cover over his face. Sakura nodded. "Well, I…" he paused for a moment. "Actually…I've been wearing one for as long as I can remember. It ensures that there are no slip-ups, in case I show an expression while I'm undercover…I suppose."

"C-can I…?" she tested the waters, unsure of how Kakashi felt about showing his face. She couldn't finish her sentence, though, to preoccupied with imagining what his features would look like. He didn't answer; he just stood there, gazing at her with his single exposed onyx eye.

Sakura's heart pounded in her chest, as her curiosity forced her hands forward. She knew that she should wait for permission to see his face, but there was no way she could back out now. Her fingers were inches away from his skin, and he still showed no sign of resistance. Diving in, she maneuvered her fingertips over the edge of the fabric that concealed his mouth. Their eyes were locked together, dancing in each other's presence. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, her fingers pulled the material down, folding it in a bunch around the base of his neck.

And he was beautiful. His skin was smooth and flawless: no pimples, scars, not even the slightest sign of a stubble. He was clean-shaven, and his complexion was breathtaking, to say the least. He didn't have enormous fish lips, or buck teeth, or anything abnormal. He had the most gorgeous face that Sakura had ever seen. His only exposed eye searched her soul with its gaze, piercing her tender heart with its experienced look.

"Kakashi…I…"she tripped on her words, falling into a silent trap that she had set up. She'd never spoke his name without saying "sensei" at the end, but she had been so lost in him that it took all that she had to speak at all. Her experienced medic's hands remained near his neck from pulling his mask down. They trailed themselves up to his cheeks, stroking his soft skin with her thumbs.

Then Sakura had an idea. An idea that she never would've wanted to carry out; that she wouldn't have even thought of, until she came to this castle. Kakashi was stunningly handsome, and compassionate, and devoted….And he had an inner longing for lust, the single most carnal instinct known to man. And they were together…In a small bedroom, where no one could hear what they were doing. There were no leaders to stop them, there was no Naruto to annoy them, there was no seductive kunoichi to steal the spotlight. This was _Sakura's_ moment; right here, right now.

She didn't know what she was doing, but she closed her eyes ever so gently, and slowly leaned her face toward his. Her pink lips embraced his, and her fingers trailed down and around his neck, as she pushed herself closer to the messy-haired copy ninja. The pink-haired girl was overjoyed when the man placed his strong hands on her shoulders. But her joy only lasted for so long.

Kakashi pushed her back lightly, forcing their kiss to come slowly to a dramatic halt. He searched her innocent, confused eyes of jade, wondering, _Why?_

* * *

><p><em>AN: Woohoo! Finally starting to heat up a little more...Next chapter soon to come. Hope you liked it! And if you did/didn't, then by all means, tell me in a review! I've got a question for you all, anyway...I recently bought volumes 1-11 of the Naruto manga, and in one of them is one of those, "This book belongs to," stickers with someone's name and number in it...Should I call them and talk about Naruto and fanfic, or would that be overstepping the "awkward stalker" boundary? Let me know what you think! Love to everyone who still puts up with me! ;D_

_Endearingly yours,  
><em>_Freyja_


	16. Why?

_A/N: Hey everyone. My sincerest apologies for the late update; something came up...It's kind of a short chapter, but it's better than nothing, and the next one will DEFINITELY make up for it. Thanks for being loyal to my story!  
>-Freyja<em>

* * *

><p>Kakashi searched Sakura's emerald eyes for some kind of hint as to why she had kissed him. Holding his hands on her smaller shoulders, he held her a small distance away from him. His eyes pondering her intentions, he was completely submerged within her charm.<p>

_Why? Why would she kiss me? Is it the castle's doing, or did she make the decision on her own? What is she thinking?_

"Sakura," he spoke softly, "Why?"

"Kakashi," she answered, telling herself not to call him "sensei", "You've always been there for me; protecting me, guiding me, helping me become a stronger person. You've never doubted me, and you've given me confidence in everything that I do."

Sakura took a moment to put on an act of false naïveté. Shrugging her shoulders slightly, she twirled her light colored hair through her fingers, licked her lips to make them look glossier, cocked her head to the side, and batted her eyelashes a few times.

Kakashi could do nothing but stare.

"So," she continued, dropping her voice to a lower tone, "That's why…Because," she leaned in closer, letting her eyelids drop just a little bit more, "Kakashi…I love you." Once more, she locked her lips onto his, forcing her eyes closed tightly, and this time, leaning her feminine body up against his. Wrapping her arms around his back and neck, she felt the warmth of his skin up against hers.

Kakashi warily held her in return, both arms encircling her gentle figure. Closing his eyes as well, he debated whether or not to kiss her back, before finally moving his lips in time with hers. In a few seconds, it was over.

Sakura thought back to the woman outside, whom she had an extreme jealousy of. _Kakashi's sin is lust…And so is Ashiri's…So if I act more like Ashiri, will Kakashi finally stop seeing me as a kid, and thinking of me as an adult?_

Her eyes flared, as she thought of what she was about to do._ I don't even know if I can pull this off,_ she thought. Finally coming to a solid decision, she shifted toward Kakashi again, trying to mimic the way that Ashiri would pull her hair out of her face. Feeling confident that she had pulled off the suggestive action, she reached to the top of her newly-mended shirt, and, finding the thread, tugged on it just enough for it to start coming undone. The thread unraveled down to her mid-chest, showing off part of her soft skin.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked quietly, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh," she said in the breathiest voice she could muster, "Nothing, really…" She stared straight into his onyx eye and leaned in toward him, "Unless you want me to."

Leaning forward even more, Sakura put her hand on the bed, in the space between his legs. Kakashi's heart beat faster, and he couldn't find the words to tell her to stop.

_Kakashi, snap out of it…_he told himself, _This girl is your student. She's confused. She doesn't know what she's doing. You have to stop this. Put an end to it. Now. Stop this. Stop it, before it gets too far._ But no words came out.

Sakura finally was close enough to her sensei that she had to lean on him for support, or fall over and ruin her act. Now putting all of her weight onto his nicely toned chest, her desperate face came close to his neck. Her breath felt warm against Kakashi's skin, and her eyes burned his psyche. She trailed her fingers gently up the sides of his torso, being sure to have them lifted far away enough to tickle slightly, but close enough to make sure that he felt every stroke.

"Sakura," he spoke up, trying to get her to stop without saying the words directly, "Sakura, you need to keep your wits about you. Come on now, sit up."

Sakura continued grazing his muscles with the pads of her experienced medic's fingers.

"Oh, Kakashi," she whispered, "Don't be that way. Don't you want to show me what you're all about, what you're capable of?"

_This doesn't sound like Sakura_, Kakashi thought, _What's going on? Is she under a genjutsu?_

Sakura licked the side of Kakashi's exposed neck, making him shiver at her wet tongue. Nearer and nearer, she crept up his neck, trailing her tongue along his jugular vein the entire time. Once she had made it to his jaw line, Kakashi had finally been able to wake himself up, and muster enough inner strength to recover his face with his mask, and pull her into a sitting position again.

He held her again at an arm's distance, hands now on her shoulders. Her sea green eyes were confused, but still on their guard, ready to put on their spell at any moment; anything to make him hers. Kakashi pulled her close, into a tender hug. Reminded of his departed friends, family, Kakashi was grateful for Sakura's love, but he couldn't bring himself to fully accept it…If he got too attached, and something were to happen, losing her would drive him mad. But was he already too attached?

"Sakura," he whispered his voice faltering ever so slightly, "I-I can't…." Kissing her wide forehead, he closed his eyes lightly as a single tear rolled down his exposed face.

The tender moment was interrupted, as the door to the slave's quarters opened, Kerushi and Ashiri standing in the hallway.

"What's going on, you guys?" Kerushi giggled. Suddenly, she cut off her words, seeing the upset Kakashi, "Is everything okay?"

"Nothing's going on," Kakashi stated in monotone, heartlessly killing his emotions, "Are you going to let us leave, or not?"

"Well…" Kerushi started, glancing awkwardly at her best friend, "I-I mean, I guess you guys can leave…If you really want to."

"Yes, we do." Kakashi got up, leaving Sakura sitting alone on the small slave's bed. He stood there until Sakura rose to her feet, and finally, the two departed, going to their separate rooms.

Sakura plopped dramatically onto the fluffy maroon comforter that covered her bed, face-planting into the sheets. Thinking about her failed mission, she thought to herself, _Why?_


	17. Please

_A/N: Hey everyone! Happy New Year! Hope you're all doing well. This is chapter 17, finally up! I didn't post during the holidays, if only because I was lazy...XD Still, after such a long time, I'm proud to give you this new update. The chapter is titled "Please" if you didn't already see that. Read on! I promise you'll like it, tons of KakaSaku juiciness. )  
>-Freyja<em>

* * *

><p>Kerushi stood bewildered in front of Sakura's closed door, eyes widened and filling up with stinging tears as she tried to calm herself down. She blinked a few times, trying to push back the bitter tears that still insisted on remaining on the bottoms of her eyelids.<p>

"Kerushi?" Ashiri prodded, trying not to look the girl in the eyes, lest she embarrass her by seeing her tears. Kerushi opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. "Kerushi," Ashiri said more gently, trying to get her attention, "Hey."

The hurt girl turned around to face her friend, tears now spilling from her eyes which could no longer contain them. Her bottom lip trembled slightly, so she bit it to change the focus from her emotions to her pain.

Ashiri moved forward and hugged Kerushi, rubbing her shoulder to comfort her.

"Hey, what's wrong? Is this about the game?" Kerushi hugged back tighter in response. "Who cares what they think? Let's just go back downstairs, and have some fun, okay?"

Footsteps creaked loudly, startling the girls, as a certain spiky-haired blonde sprinted up the stairs.

"Hey, hey!" Naruto climbed more stairs, "Where the heck are Sakura and Kaka-sensei? Why aren't you guys….What's wrong?"

Naruto, coming to the top of the staircase, rounded the corner and slowed his pace when he saw the emotional women standing in the hallway.

"Hey…" Naruto said, quieter, "What happened?"

"Umm, nothing," Kerushi answered brightly, breaking her friend's hug, "Let's just go back downstairs, okay?"

"Uhh….O-Okay…." Naruto agreed wearily, still suspecting that something was going on, but accepting the fact that they didn't want to talk about whatever it was.

The awkward party of three tiptoed their way down the stairs, and back into the living room.

xxx

Meanwhile, Sakura was having an emotional time in her room. Her face slammed into her soft pillows, she dealt with the difficulty of breathing in order to maintain her current state of being helplessly depressed. Taking a deep breath in, she let tears flow freely from her eyes, and wept silently into the cushions. She was so involved in her self-pity that she didn't even notice the sinking in of the mattress, at the foot of the bed.

"Why, Kakashi?" she wept into the down padding, "Why can't you see how I feel? Why can't you love me back?" Along with her tears, saliva seeped out of her mouth during her fit, leaving a puddle of sadness on the regal fabric of the pillowcase. Crying out loud, she pushed her face farther into the pads, trying to disappear from the forest, disappear from her feelings.

The bubblegum-haired kunoichi recoiled slightly at the feeling of a hand warming her cold, bare shoulder that was still trembling from her tantrum.

"Sshh, Sakura," the voice soothed, "Please, don't cry."

The crying girl jumped at that familiar, deep-toned voice that always had the mystical ability to comfort her. Wiping her tears off with the back side of her hand, so as not to swell the size of the puddle of her sorrows on the pillow, she sniffed, trying to keep her face as presentable as possible. After all she'd been through trying to become strong, she couldn't let him see her like this. Not now.

The warm hand rubbed softly on Sakura's upturned back, patting her sadness away. Like a small child consoled by the tender love of her father, the girl's sobs eventually died away to mere hiccups and occasional sniffles.

"It's okay," solaced the voice, "Everything's all right."

Finally, her self-assurance almost restored to normal, Sakura turned over on her side to face her watchful guardian. Her watery eyes were flushed and swollen, leaving the green irises to clash with the surrounding pinkish raw backgrounds that had been reddened by her constant crying. Taking in his strong appearance, just the sight of his single exposed onyx eye instilled the inner peace of her heart. It always had, and Sakura expected that it always would. Just gazing into his midnight-black orb, even just the one, made her feel as if there wasn't a problem in the world.

"K-Kakashi-sensei," she sniffled, going back to her genin days by calling him "sensei."

"Yes, Sakura…I'm here." he soothed.

"W-why are you here?" she asked, her voice cracking rather obviously, from crying, "When did you get here?"

_Please_, Sakura's insides begged, _Please have come after what I said…Please, I can't bear myself if you heard that last part._

Kakashi knew that the girl's insides were writhing; he could sense the tangible discomfort that radiated from every pore on her body.

"I got here when you needed me," he answered softly, "Just like I always will."

The copy ninja reached his hand forward, and tenderly began to sweep the dampened pink locks away from Sakura's eyes, and behind her ears. He looked at her innocent features, so small and delicate, yet full of life.

"I thought you went to your room," Sakura questioned, confusedly.

"That was a shadow clone," Kakashi answered in a quiet voice, "I'm here now."

"Oh…" Sakura trailed off, looking away from her protector's gentle face.

"Sakura," Kakashi started, tiptoeing across the boundaries of how much she would be comfortable telling him. He took an intake of breath and prepared himself to ask the question that was on his mind since that night at the fortune teller's house. "Sakura, why were you acting like that? Earlier, in the slave's quarters?"

Sakura mentally kicked herself, hard, where it hurt the most: her pride. She knew that acting so boldly would backfire, somehow. If only she had listened to her gut instinct, and not have followed what her inner self kept telling her to do. Sakura closed her eyes tight, wrinkling them up uncomfortably before finally reopening them, new tears of guilt starting to roll lightly down her cheeks.

"I…I…" she searched for words, but now was not the time to lie, or back out like a coward with weak excuses. "Kakashi, all those things I said were true. I really do love you, and if you asked me to do something -anything at all- I would do it, with only the hope of making you happy."

More tears leaked from the girl's face, making their journey down her silky skin. Kakashi searched for words, taken aback from his former student's response.

"…Why did you do it?" he asked.

Sakura brought herself up to a sitting position, sitting next to her teacher, and facing him with her ashamed face.

"I….I didn't think that you would have the same feelings toward me…Especially with that succub-" she cut herself off, not wanting to disgrace herself further by stooping to name-calling. "-Ashiri…rubbing herself over everyone…Well, and Orakuru-san said…She said that your sin…is…."

"Sakura," he spoke softly, as if there were no sound in the world but his own.

"Don't try to comfort me," she sobbed, standing up from her bed, and walking quickly to the wall, away from her teacher. "You don't understand, you don't care." She put her broad forehead on the wall, trying to hide herself from her shame. Her guilt. Her sin.

Kakashi stood up as well, and followed her to the wall.

"Sakura," he repeated, "I may not understand completely, but I have lost everyone. My family, my comrades, everyone. They're all gone. I'm the only one left…Or, I was, until I met you." he leaned against the wall, putting his head against the panel and trying to see Sakura's face. "You, and Naruto, and Sasuke…You showed me how to live my life, how to stop focusing on what I don't have, and start focusing on what I do have. I've got intelligent, successful students, who can handle themselves without help. I've got friends among the jonin, and an eternal rival who won't leave me the hell alone half the time. I've got a wonderful village full of people who would give their life for what they believe in, and I'm glad to know each and every person in it. Most of all, I've got a beautiful, smart, considerate young cherry blossom in front of me, asking for love…"

Sakura turned to face him, still leaning against the wall. Kakashi paced his way in a circle, around to her back, while she spun her body around to keep her face toward him the entire time. While her back was against the wall, the silver haired jonin placed his hands firmly on the wall, to the sides of Sakura's head, trapping her. He pulled his mask down for effect, trying to show her how serious he was, and how much he meant the words that he said.

"Asking me for love that I can't give, in the way that she needs it the most."

"What do you mean?" she asked, still shocked by his sudden actions and decision to expose his face yet again to her.

"Sakura, I can't be anything more than your former sensei. I'm fourteen years older than you, and you know that nothing can happen between us."

"But…No one's here. We're shinobi; we can keep a little secret."

Kakashi mulled her words over in his head, giving her a thoughtful look while he contemplated his options.

Swiftly, he crushed his exposed lips upon hers, closing his eyes as he experimented with the idea that had recently been accepted as okay, by the only person he needed approval from. The kiss was rough, their breathing was ragged, and Sakura, although shocked, was riding the waves of the kiss like a professional, except for the fact that she couldn't breathe very well at first. Even though her stomach felt warm and fluttery, she couldn't complain. This is what she asked for.

Finally, her master broke the kiss, pulling his face away from hers, and staring into her big, sea-green eyes. His hands remained over her shoulders, preventing her from moving. Not that she would have, even if the opportunity presented itself. Kakashi's eyes, which were previously filled with lustful wildness, begging for more sensual interaction, turned melancholy, and his look of forced contemplation turned to one of sadness and sorrow.

"I-I can't," he started, breaking off slightly, "I can't lose you."

Sakura, still feeling fluttery from their embrace, spoke up quickly to his response.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said with a hint of sexuality under the premise of innocence.

Kakashi once again forced his lips upon hers, pouring into her that carnal emotion that had lied so dormant within him for such a long time, that she was begging him for.

"Don't," he answered, whispering against her lips, "Don't go anywhere. Please."

Sakura looked up into her master's eyes to see a tear rolling down his face.

_Please…_

* * *

><p><em>AN: There we go! Hope it's satisfactory, I know Kakashi has been getting some...charming...feedback from everyone, both in reviews and PM's. (Nixxy, that would be you. Your review totally made my week.) Actually, all of your reviews make my week. I must check my fanfiction reviews a hundred times a day. XD Anyway, if you liked the chapter, didn't like it, you're glad Kakashi's not a "baka" anymore, whatever; just let me know in a review! (Or a PM...But I'd prefer a review.) Thanks to everyone who's still reading; I really do appreciate your support and feedback. Have a wonderful day!_

_Endearingly yours,  
>Freyja Elizabeth<em>

_PS: I figured Dolphinz514 would get a kick out of this, but you should read it too: My plans for this chapter were written in flipnote hatena, on a bus, because I didn't have paper. Although they're barely legible, the words say, "Kaka-shadow clone, Saka room, pin against wall, age dif and other probs, experimental kiss, confsd, 'can't lose' 'anywhere' kiss, tear, please." That was my outline for the chapter...So when I mean, "I have a plotline of what I want to happen in the next chapter," I really mean, "I have a bunch of chicken scratch scribbled on random items, which are supposed to summarize the chapter, but are really just gibberish to anyone but me." Now you know how my organization skills are...But I think it worked out quite nicely, don't you?_


	18. Thank You

Goodness, it's been such a long time...It's a short chapter, but it's a chapter. It has some information about Kakashi's father, so if you're anti-spoilers, just go ahead and skip that part. Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's long-due!

-Freyja

* * *

><p>"Don't go anywhere. Please."<p>

Kakashi closed the only eye that was showing, letting a pair of tears flow freely down his face. The tears rolled easily across his smooth, exposed skin, and slowed down toward the edge of his face. They joined together and lingered at his strong jaw line, before finally, they became too heavy, and fell lightly onto Sakura's still-ripped shirt. The kunoichi, youthful and bold, gently put her inhibitions into a drawer, never to be seen again. She slowly, gently raised her arm up, snaking it around her master's neck. She pulled him down to her, going in for another kiss.

Kakashi obeyed more than willingly, and gave her the kiss that she was so politely asking for. His lips softly brushed against hers, and parted when her tongue pressed the against outside of them. Understanding the silent request, the well-learned jonin parted his lips and embraced her tongue with his own. Back and forth, they took turns massaging one another's mouth with their own.

While still engaged in the kiss, Sakura slipped her free arm around Kakashi's back, placing her hand on his broad shoulders. Her experienced hand trailed its way down his back, following the path of his spine. Her fingers teased all of the right nerves, applying just the right amount of pressure to make the copy ninja's back arch slightly, pushing the couple's bodies closer together. Kakashi's pelvis was also pushed into Sakura's, forcing them into a full-contact embrace.

Their kiss became more intense, and as Kakashi kissed his student back, he instinctively leaned in against her, pinning her between the wall and the jonin. Hungry for more, Sakura extended her neck upward to Kakashi, reaching the hand that was previously on his neck, up to his gravity-defying silver hair. Entangling her fingers in the hair, she wound her hands in and out, gripping his hair and attempting to lose herself within it.

Kakashi, realizing the fact that he was about to lose himself, slowed down the pace of their kiss, pulling Sakura's hand off of his back. The hand that she had intertwined in his hair dropped the silver locks, which returned to their normal place. Her hand drifted lightly down the side of his face, and rested on his cheek. Kakashi brought her other hand in front of his face, holding it close, and kissing the tips of her fingers.

Sakura watched silently as her guardian put a halt to all feelings of lust that he-no, _they_-had longed for so hungrily. He picked her up gently, and carried her to the bed. They lied together on top of the sheets, while Kakashi stroked Sakura's silken hair.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura spoke up, returning to her normal, child-like attitude, "Is it hard for you to contain your…Ummm…." she trailed off, not knowing how to bring up his inner longings without sounding like an over-curious idiot.

"Lust?" Kakashi he questioned knowingly, understanding what she was getting at.

"Yeah," she agreed, "that."

"Well," he continued, pulling her into his body to lean against his chest, "I've had to grow up without any emotions. My father had always taught me that before he died, and although it's okay to show some humanity while you're not on missions, it's just become a habit for me to keep it inside. I'm used to it now."

"Doesn't it bother you sometimes?" she asked openly, "Not being allowed to act like a person? It's like we shinobi are just tools…"

"That's what we are, Sakura," he answered wistfully, "We know that we are to be used as tools from the day we enter the academy, and most of the time, before then. Yet still, we accept those terms, and pledge our loyalty to our village, never to question the motives of the missions we've been assigned. The anti-emotional aspect of it doesn't bother me because I know that I'm doing what I was meant to do. My father ensured that I would become strong, and I've done what I can to ensure that I bring pride to my family's name." He continued running his fingers slowly through her pink hair.

"Do you ever question the missions that you're assigned?" Sakura prodded, asking questions like a small child.

"Yes, I do," he answered, "All the time. It's important that you at least know why you are on a certain mission. Although it's not encouraged, I do put my comrades' lives on a higher priority than the completion of a mission."

"Hmm…." Sakura contemplated her sensei's answers, remembering his many speeches about comrades. "Kakashi-sensei, what happened to your family?"

Kakashi took a deep breath, and removed his fingers from Sakura's hair.

"My mother died while I was very young, and my father committed seppuku before I had graduated from the academy."

"Why?"

"He was on an important mission, one that was of great military importance to Konohagakure. He was put in a situation where he could either let his teammates die to complete the mission, or save their lives at the cost of the mission. He chose to save them, and the entire leaf hated him for it - even the people that he saved. The entire village saw him as a dishonor to all shinobi, and the shame eventually got to him. He chose seppuku as an honorable way to atone for what he'd done."

"That's terrible…." Sakura consoled, trying to imagine the pain that Kakashi's father had gone through.

"Yes, it was."

"What happened to your comrades? I mean, if it's not too personal…You've never really talked about them."

"Ahh, well…I was on a team with Obito Uchiha and Rin, with Naruto's father as my sensei….Obito was just like Naruto…Chivalrous, stubborn, and kind of a knucklehead at times. He was my rival….And he died protecting me and Rin."

"I'm so sorry…" Sakura sympathized, guessing that Kakashi probably didn't want to talk about it.

"It's not your fault, Sakura. I've learned several things from my childhood that make me the man I am today." He resumed stroking her hair.

"I just wish there was something I could do…"

"Live," Kakashi answered, "Live, and live with sense. Keep your comrades close, and always think through every situation."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," she responded confidently, "I will."

Within half an hour, Sakura was sound asleep, resting against her master.

Kakashi petted the sleeping girl's hair.

"Thank you, Sakura," he whispered, "Thank you."

* * *

><p>*sigh* I love Kakashi so much...He's so fun to write about. I'm thinking about doing a one-shot hurtcomfort about his father...Opinions? I had to do a bit of research on seppuku for this chapter, at least for my own knowledge. (It's the samauri's suicide that Kakashi's dad used.) It's really sad to read about, but interesting nonetheless. I'd highly suggest reading up on it if you don't know very much about it. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! I know it's been a long time!

Endearingly yours,

Freyja Elizabeth


End file.
